Perlman began working on the screenplay in 2009. Producer Kevin Feige first publicly mentioned Guardians of the Galaxy as a potential film in 2010 and Marvel Studios announced it was in active development at the San Diego Comic-Con International in July 2012. Gunn was hired to write and direct the film that September. In February 2013, Pratt was hired to play Peter Quill / Star-Lord, and the supporting cast members were subsequently confirmed. Principal photography began in July 2013 at Shepperton Studios in England, with filming continuing in London before wrapping up in October 2013. Post-production was finished on July 7, 2014.

The film premiered in Hollywood on July 21, 2014, and was released in theaters on August 1, 2014 in the United States in the 3D and IMAX 3D formats. The film became a critical and commercial success, grossing $773.3 million worldwide and becoming the highest-grossing superhero film of 2014, as well as the third highest-grossing film of 2014. The film garnered praise for its humor, action, soundtrack, visual effects, direction, musical score, and acting. At the 87th Academy Awards, the film received nominations for Best Visual Effects and Best Makeup and Hairstyling.

A sequel, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, was released on May 5, 2017, with a third film, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, scheduled to be released in 2020.

In 1988, following his mother's death, a young Peter Quill is abducted from Earth by the Ravagers, a group of space pirates led by Yondu Udonta. Twenty-six years later on the planet Morag, Quill steals an orb but is attacked by Korath, a subordinate to the fanatical Kree, Ronan. Although Quill escapes with the orb, Yondu discovers his theft and issues a bounty for his capture, while Ronan sends the assassin Gamora after the orb.

When Quill attempts to sell the orb on Xandar, capital of the Nova Empire, Gamora ambushes him and steals it. A fight ensues, drawing in a pair of bounty hunters: the genetically and cybernetically modified raccoon Rocket, and the tree-like humanoid Groot. Nova Corps officers capture the four, detaining them in the Kyln. A powerful inmate there, Drax, attempts to kill Gamora due to her association with Ronan, who killed his family. Quill convinces Drax that Gamora can bring Ronan to him, though Gamora reveals that she has betrayed Ronan, unwilling to let him use the orb's power. Learning that Gamora has a buyer for the orb, Quill, Rocket, Groot, and Drax work with her to escape the Kyln in Quill's ship, the Milano.

Ronan meets with Gamora's adoptive father, Thanos, to discuss her betrayal. Quill's group flee to Knowhere, a remote criminal outpost in space built in the giant severed head of a Celestial. A drunken Drax summons Ronan while the rest of the group meet Gamora's contact, the collector Taneleer Tivan. Tivan opens the orb, revealing an Infinity Stone, an item of immeasurable power that destroys all but the most powerful beings who wield it. Tivan's tormented assistant Carina grabs the Stone, triggering an explosion that engulfs Tivan's archive.

Ronan arrives and easily defeats Drax, while the others flee by ship, pursued by Ronan's followers and Gamora's adoptive sister Nebula. Nebula destroys Gamora's ship, leaving her floating in space, and Ronan's fighters capture the orb. Quill contacts Yondu before following Gamora into space, giving her his helmet to survive; Yondu arrives and retrieves the pair. Rocket, Drax, and Groot threaten to attack Yondu's ship to rescue them, but Quill negotiates a truce, promising the orb to Yondu. Quill's group agrees that facing Ronan means certain death, but that they cannot let him use the Infinity Stone to destroy the galaxy. On Ronan's flagship, the Dark Aster, Ronan embeds the Stone in his warhammer, taking its power for himself. He contacts Thanos, threatening to kill him after first destroying Xandar; hateful of her adoptive father, Nebula allies with Ronan.

The Ravagers and Quill's group join with the Nova Corps to confront the Dark Aster at Xandar, with Quill's group breaching the Dark Aster with the Milano. Ronan uses his empowered warhammer to destroy the Nova Corps fleet. Gamora fights and defeats Nebula, who then escapes, but the group find themselves outmatched by Ronan's power until Rocket crashes a Ravager ship through the Dark Aster. The damaged Dark Aster crash-lands on Xandar, with Groot sacrificing himself to shield the group. Ronan emerges from the wreck and prepares to destroy Xandar, but Quill distracts him, allowing Drax and Rocket to destroy Ronan's warhammer. Quill grabs the freed Stone, and with Gamora, Drax, and Rocket sharing its burden, they use it to destroy Ronan.

In the aftermath, Quill tricks Yondu into taking a container supposedly containing the Stone, and gives the real Stone to the Nova Corps. As the Ravagers leave Xandar, Yondu remarks that it turned out well that they did not deliver Quill to his father per their contract. Quill's group, now known as the Guardians of the Galaxy, have their criminal records expunged, and Quill learns that he is only half-human, his father being part of an ancient, unknown species. Quill finally opens the last present he received from his mother: a cassette tape filled with her favorite songs. The Guardians leave in the rebuilt Milano along with a sapling cut from Groot.

In a post-credits scene, Tivan sits in his destroyed archive with two of his living exhibits: a canine cosmonaut and an anthropomorphic duck.[N 1]

The cast of Guardians of the Galaxy promoting the film at the 2013 San Diego Comic-Con International. From top to bottom: Pratt, Saldana, Bautista, Pace, Rooker, Gillan, Hounsou, and del Toro. (Scrollable image)

Chris Pratt as Peter Quill / Star-Lord:
The half-human, half-alien[8] leader of the Guardians who was abducted from Missouri as a child in 1988 and raised by a group of alien thieves and smugglers called the Ravagers.[9][10][11] About the character, Pratt said, "He had a hard time as a kid, and now he goes around space, making out with hot alien girls and just being a rogue and a bit of a jerk, and through teaming up with these guys, finds a higher purpose for himself."[12] He also added that the character is a mix of Han Solo and Marty McFly.[8] Pratt, who was mostly known for playing supporting characters, including Andy Dwyer on the television series Parks and Recreation, initially turned down the role. Pratt had lost weight to portray fit characters in films such as Moneyball and Zero Dark Thirty, and had given up ambitions to play the lead role in action films after humbling auditions for Star Trek and Avatar. Casting director Sarah Finn suggested Pratt to Gunn, who dismissed the idea despite struggling to cast that role. Despite this, Finn arranged for a meeting between the two, at which point Gunn was immediately convinced that Pratt was perfect for the role. Pratt also won over Feige, despite having gained weight again for Delivery Man.[13] Prior to filming, Pratt underwent a strict diet and training regimen to lose 60 lb (27 kg) in six months.[14] Pratt signed a multi-film contract with Marvel,[15] and was granted a temporary leave from his work on Parks and Recreation in order to accommodate his participation in the film.[16]Wyatt Oleff portrays a young Quill.[17]

Zoe Saldana as Gamora:
An orphan from an alien world who seeks redemption for her past crimes. She was trained by Thanos to be his personal assassin.[9][18][19] Saldana said that she became Gamora through make-up rather than computer generated imagery (CGI) or performance capture.[20] On taking the role, Saldana said, "I was just excited to be asked to join by James Gunn and to also play someone green. I've been blue before [in Avatar]."[21] Saldana described Gamora as "…a warrior, she’s an assassin and she’s very lethal but what saves her is the same thing that can doom her. She has a sense of righteousness. She’s a very righteous individual."[8]

Dave Bautista as Drax the Destroyer:
A warrior who seeks to avenge his family's death at the hands of Ronan.[18] On relating to the character, Bautista said, "I can just relate to Drax so much it's not even funny. Just the simple things that we have in common. Simple things like the tattoos, the tragedy – because you know, I had a bit of tragedy in my life as well. So it's really easy for me to pull from that." Bautista also said that there was "a lot of comic relief to Drax", but the character was not aware of it. Bautista stated that he did not do much preparation for the role, because "Luckily, for me, I'm a lifelong athlete and I adapted real quick."[22] Bautista's makeup took approximately four hours to apply, though it could be removed in just 90 minutes.[23] Drax has various scarring patterns on his body, which replace the simple tattoos from the comics, each having a specific story. Additionally, his skin tone was changed from the bright green in the comics to a muddier grey, to avoid visual similarities to the Hulk.[24]

Vin Diesel as Groot:
A tree-like humanoid[25] who is the accomplice of Rocket. Diesel stated that he provided the voice and motion capture for Groot, after originally being in talks to star in a new Phase Three Marvel film.[26][27][28] Diesel also provided Groot's voice for several foreign-language releases of the film.[29] Krystian Godlewski portrayed the character on set, though his acting was not used in the final character CGI.[30][31] On the character, which Gunn based on his dog,[32] Gunn said, "All the Guardians start out the movie as bastards – except Groot. He's an innocent. He's a hundred percent deadly and a hundred percent sweet. He's caught up in Rocket's life, really." Gunn added that the design and movement of Groot took "the better part of a year" to create.[33] Gunn added, "The ways in which Vin Diesel says, 'I am Groot,' I am astounded. All of the 'I am Groots' that were earlier voices didn't sound very good at all… Vin came in and in one day, laid down all these 'I am Groot' tracks, and he's a perfectionist. He made me explain to him with ever [sic] 'I am Groot,' exactly what he was saying… It was amazing when we first put that voice in there how much the character changed and how much he influenced the character."[34] Regarding the limited words used by Groot, Diesel said in many ways this was, "… the most challenging thing to ask an actor to do."[35] Diesel found an emotional note in his performance, invoking the death of his friend and Fast and Furious co-star Paul Walker, saying, "This was in December [2013], and the first time I came back to dealing with human beings after dealing with death, so playing a character who celebrates life in the way Groot does was very nice."[36] Groot's form and size-changing abilities are seen, with Gunn stating that he has the ability to grow in the film.[37]

Bradley Cooper as Rocket:
A genetically engineered raccoon-like bounty hunter and mercenary who is a master of weapons and battle tactics.[9][25][38][39] Gunn worked with live raccoons to get the correct feel for the character, and to make sure it was "not a cartoon character", saying, "It's not Bugs Bunny in the middle of the Avengers, it's a real, little, somewhat mangled beast that's alone. There's no one else in the universe quite like him, he's been created by these guys to be a mean-ass fighting machine."[40] Gunn also based the character on himself.[32] Describing Rocket in relation to the rest of the Guardians, Cooper said, "I think Rocket is dynamic. He's the sort of Joe Pesci in Goodfellas guy."[41] Cooper voiced Rocket, while Sean Gunn (James' younger brother) stood in for the character during filming.[42] James Gunn said that for the role of Rocket, some physical movement from Cooper, including facial expressions and hand movements, was recorded as potential reference for the animators,[43] though much of Sean Gunn's acting is used throughout the film.[30] Before Cooper was cast, James Gunn said that it was a challenge finding a voice for Rocket, that he was looking for someone that could balance "the fast-talking speech patterns that Rocket has, but also can be funny, because he is really funny. But also has the heart that Rocket has. Because there are actually some pretty dramatic scenes with Rocket."[44]

Lee Pace as Ronan the Accuser:
A Kree radical who agrees to retrieve an artifact for Thanos in exchange for eradicating his mortal enemies, the Xandarians. Ronan and his Sakaaran army[45] hunt down the Guardians when they interfere with his goals.[9][46] Describing Ronan, Gunn said, "He is the primary villain, and he is a really twisted guy, he has a really religious bent in this film. He has a very sick and twisted view of what morality is; strength is virtue and weakness is sin and that is what he lives by, and I think he is very scary because of his beliefs, which are real to him."[47] Pace, who originally auditioned for Peter Quill,[48] described Ronan as a "psycho" and a "monster".[49]

Michael Rooker as Yondu Udonta:
A blue-skinned bandit who is the leader of the Ravagers and a paternal figure to Quill.[9][50] Yondu helps Quill to steal the orb before Quill betrays him, leaving Yondu and the Ravagers to chase the Guardians. On the character, Rooker said, he has "some interesting issues–not a good guy, not a bad guy. There's hope and there's a heart inside Yondu." Gunn created the film's version of the character specifically with Rooker in mind, while borrowing the character's mohawk and use of a whistle-controlled arrow from the comics. Rooker fully committed to the role once he knew his role on the TV series The Walking Dead would be ending.[51] Rooker's makeup took approximately four hours to apply.[52]

Karen Gillan as Nebula:
An adopted daughter of Thanos who was raised with Gamora as siblings and is a loyal lieutenant in the employ of Ronan and Thanos.[9][11] About the character, Gillan said, "She is the female villain of the film … She is very sadistic and evil, but I like to think for a very valid reason."[53] She also added, "I think she's a really interesting character. What I like to play around with is how jealous she is. She's Gamora's sister, and there's a lot of sibling rivalry. That's the most interesting aspect to me, because jealousy can consume you and turn you bitter, and ugly. And she's a total sadist, so that's fun too."[54] Gillan researched the ancient Spartans, shaved off her hair, and trained for two months for the role.[54][55] The character's makeup took approximately four and a half hours to be applied.[54]

Djimon Hounsou as Korath:
A Kree[45] ally of Ronan who is a feared intergalactic hunter.[9] As to why he took the role Hounsou said, "I have a four-year old son who loves superheroes from Spider-Man to Iron Man to Batman. He's got all the costumes. One day he looks at me and says 'Dad, I want to be light-skinned so I could be Spider-Man. Spider-Man has light skin.' That was sort of a shock. This is why I am excited to be a part of the Marvel Universe, so I could hopefully provide that diversity in the role of the superhero."[56]

Glenn Close as Irani Rael:
The leader of the Nova Corps, known as Nova Prime, whose mission is to protect the citizens of the Nova Empire and keep peace.[9][58][59] Close stated that she "had always wanted to be in a movie like [Guardians of the Galaxy], and that it would be "the most fun to play something like the Judi Dench [as M or] Samuel L. Jackson [as Nick Fury] role".[60] She said that she took the role because she "love[s] to do stuff that's different" and wanted to show that she "[has] always been up for anything."[61] She also stated that her contract has "several" films on it, and that she would be open to working on other Marvel Studios films in addition to returning for Guardians sequels.[60]

Benicio del Toro as Taneleer Tivan / The Collector:
An obsessive keeper of the largest collection of interstellar fauna, relics, and species in the galaxy who operates out of a place in space named Knowhere.[9][58][62] Describing del Toro's performance, Gunn said, "He's like an outer-space Liberace. That's what it says in the script, which he's kind of doing."[43] On bringing the character to life, del Toro said, "What James [Gunn] wanted, that I found out little by little as I was doing it, is that he wanted me to explore and just keep pushing the character and keep creating [him] as I was in front of the camera."[63]

"I think anybody... who would have said that this would make a great main movie would have been laughed off. It's such an unlikely thing to do. So I think it's lovely to work on something and expose its potential to the point where a company like Marvel will say, 'Yes, this makes sense.'"

—Dan Abnett, co-writer of the 2008 Guardians of the Galaxy relaunch, on the project[90]

Feige announced that the film was in active development at the 2012 San Diego Comic-Con International during the Marvel Studios panel, with an intended release date of August 1, 2014. He stated that the film's titular team would consist of the characters Star-Lord, Drax the Destroyer, Gamora, Groot, and Rocket Raccoon.[93] Two pieces of concept art were also displayed, one of Rocket Raccoon, and one featuring the entire team.[94] In August 2012, James Gunn entered talks to direct the film, beating out other contenders, including Peyton Reed and the duo Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden.[95]The Avengers director Joss Whedon, who signed a deal to creatively consult on all of the films leading up to The Avengers sequel,[96] was enthusiastic about the selection of Gunn to direct, saying "James [Gunn] is what makes me think it will work… He is so off the wall, and so crazy, but so smart, such a craftsman and he builds from his heart. He loves the raccoon. Needs the raccoon… He has a very twisted take on it, but it all comes from a real love for the material. It's going to be hard for [the human characters] to keep up."[97]

Nicole Perlman, who was enrolled in Marvel's screenwriting program in 2009,[98] was offered several of their lesser known properties to base a screenplay on.[99] Out of those, Perlman chose Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning's Guardians of the Galaxy, due to her interest in space and science fiction,[99] adding, "I think [Marvel] were a little taken aback when I chose Guardians, because there were ones that would make a lot more sense if you were a romantic-comedy writer or something like that." Perlman spent two years writing a draft, immersing herself in the Guardians universe, and was asked in late 2011 to create another draft, before Gunn was brought in in early 2012 to contribute to the script.[100] Gunn eventually rewrote the script entirely because "it didn’t work" for him; he would use the film The Dirty Dozen as a reference to convey his ideas of the film to Marvel.[101] Gunn later explained that Perlman's draft was very different from the script he used during filming, including a different story, character arcs and no Walkman; he stated, "In Nicole’s script everything is pretty different… it's not about the same stuff. But that's how the WGA works. They like first writers an awful lot."[102] In August 2012, Marvel Studios hired writer Chris McCoy to rewrite Perlman's script,[103] however, it is unclear what contribution he had to the final script, since he did not receive production credit.[58]

Gunn revealed that character introductions were the "hardest scenes to crack", with Thanos' introduction being the most difficult. He felt that "having Thanos be in that scene was more helpful to the [MCU] than it was to Guardians of the Galaxy," yet he still wanted Thanos in the film, without "[belittling] the actual antagonist of the film, which is Ronan." To solve his dilemma, Gunn chose to have Ronan kill "The Other", Thanos' vizier, saying, "I thought that was interesting, because we’ve had the Other, who’s obviously very powerful even in comparison to Loki, and then we see Ronan wipe his ass with him. So that I liked, but even that was sort of difficult, because it played as funnier when I first wrote it, and the humor didn’t work so much."[104]

In January 2013, filming was scheduled to take place at Shepperton Studios in London, United Kingdom,[112] and Marvel Studios announced that the film would be released in 3D.[113] Victoria Alonso, an executive producer on the film, said that filming would begin in June. She also said that both Rocket Raccoon and Groot would be created through a combination of CGI and motion capture, going on to say that "You can't do any motion capture with a raccoon—they won't let you put the suit on. But we will do rotomation, probably, for some of the behavior… we definitely will have performers to emulate what James Gunn will lead to be, the behavior and the performance. He's very clear on where he wants to take the characters."[114] In March 2013, Feige discussed Guardians of the Galaxy in relation to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, saying, "It's much more of a standalone film. It takes place in the same universe. And when we've been on the other side of that universe in other movies, you might see those characteristics in Guardians, but the Avengers are not involved with what's happening out there at this time." Feige also stated that 95% of the film would take place in space.[115] In mid-March, Dave Bautista was signed to play Drax the Destroyer.[116] Other actors who had been considered for the role included Isaiah Mustafa, Brian Patrick Wade, and Jason Momoa.[116] By the following week, sculptor Brian Muir, who sculpted Darth Vader's mask for the Star Wars films, was revealed to be working on the film.[117]

Special effects makeup designer David White took head and body casts of actors, such as Bautista, to experiment with materials used to create the characters. White said, "James always pushed for practical and makeup effects. He wanted, like me, to see the real deal there on set." White was careful not to use "modern" creature designs to ensure they did not fall short in Gunn's uniquely envisioned world. White and his team created upwards of 1,000 prosthetic makeup applications and 2,000 molds of different-colored aliens.[122] For the specific aesthetic look to the film, Gunn wanted to create "a colorful science-fiction world", and include elements of 1950s and '60s pulp movies, citing the Ravagers' spaceships, which he compared to muscle cars, as an example of the latter.[123] Science fiction artist Chris Foss inspired and helped design the final look of some of the spacecrafts that appear in the film.[124]

Principal photography began around July 6, 2013 in London, United Kingdom,[55] under the working title of Full Tilt.[8] Filming took place at Shepperton Studios and Longcross Studios.[112][125] Later in July, Gunn and the film's cast flew from London to attend San Diego Comic-Con International, where it was revealed that Pace would play Ronan the Accuser, Gillan would be Nebula, del Toro as The Collector, and that Djimon Hounsou had been cast as Korath.[55][58] Close was later revealed to play Nova Prime Irani Rael.[9][58] Also at San Diego Comic-Con, Feige stated that Thanos would be a part of the film as the "mastermind".[126] On August 11, 2013, filming began at London's Millennium Bridge,[127] which was selected as a double for Xandar.[24] In August 2013, Marvel announced that Bradley Cooper would voice Rocket.[38] On September 3, 2013, Gunn said that filming was "a little over half[way]" complete.[128] Also in September, Vin Diesel stated that he was voicing Groot.[28] However, Marvel did not confirm Diesel's involvement in the film at the time.[42][43][129] On October 12, 2013, Gunn announced on social media that filming had completed.[130]

Director of photographyBen Davis used Arri Alexa XT cameras for the film, saying, "I’m traditionally a photochemical fan, but going with the digital format was the right way for this movie… the Alexa [provided] the right look for this particular film." During the opening scenes in the 1980s, Davis chose JDC Cooke Xtal (Crystal) Express anamorphic prime lenses because they "had more anamorphic artifacts and aberrations, which [he] felt added something." Davis used spherical Panavision Primos for the rest of the film. Additionally, Davis worked closely with production designer Charles Wood in order to achieve the correct lighting looks for each scene.[125] Dealing with two fully CGI characters forced Davis to shoot scenes multiple times, usually once with the references for the characters and once without them in the shot.[131]

Gunn revealed that his brother, Sean Gunn, took on multiple roles during the filming process, such as standing in for Rocket, which he noted was beneficial for the other actors, including Saldana, Pratt, and Bautista, who responded positively to Sean and his on-set performances.[30] Special effects makeup designer David White made two life-size versions of Rocket and a bust of Groot as aids for visual effects, with White saying, "it gives [the filmmakers] a good indication of where visual effects needs to pick up and whether Rocket can actually reach certain things or use certain devices."[31] These busts were also used to see how the on-set lighting would affect the characters, to assist with the visual effects lighting process.[31]

In January 2015, Disney revealed that the film came in "slightly over the agreed budget" at $232.3 million, with Disney receiving a rebate of $36.4 million from the British government.[2] It was previously estimated to have had a $170 million budget.[132]

In November 2013, Gunn stated that he attempted to use as many practical effects as possible while filming to aid the use of CGI and motion capture during post-production, saying, "Our sets are enormous. We have a prison that is 350,000 pounds of steel. Anybody who knows me knows I love the mix of practical and CGI effects… I can't wait for people to see it, because it's astonishingly beautiful."[133] After the release of Thor: The Dark World, Feige stated that the Infinity Stones would be a focus in the film, as well as going forward into the Phase Three slate of films within the MCU.[134] In a separate interview for The Dark World in November, Feige added that a third, unknown Infinity Stone would be seen in the film,[135] referred to as the "Power Stone" by the Collector.[136][137] The mid-credits scene in The Dark World revealed Lovibond's role as the Collector's aide, later named Carina.[69] In December 2013, Marvel confirmed that Diesel would voice Groot.[138]

A few weeks of additional filming, involving the film's main cast and crew, occurred in March 2014 at Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, California.[139][140][141] In April 2014, Gunn described Thanos as the "head of the snake" in the film, and confirmed he would appear via performance capture.[11] In May 2014, Gunn stated that the film features an "enormous" amount of smaller and minor characters from the Marvel Universe, adding that he felt the film had the most characters overall of any Marvel Studios film to date.[142] Costume supervisor Dan Grace added to this by saying, "We really, really get the feeling of the scale and scope of the galaxy. We visit five planets, we see a hundred different races." The film introduces the alien race Sakaaran, who act as Ronan's mercenaries, as a replacement to the Badoon, as the Badoon film rights belonged to 20th Century Fox.[45]

By the end of May, Josh Brolin was revealed as the voice of Thanos,[64][65] with Feige confirming in July that Brolin also provided the performance capture for the character.[66] Thanos communicates via hologram for much of the film, though he does appear in a scene with Ronan and Nebula.[136] In June 2014, Feige added that Thanos and his followers are "the biggest piece of connective tissue that will eventually lead us back into Avengers films in the future."[143] On casting Brolin, Feige said,

We reached out to him and it was one of those things that does not happen all the time but when it does it’s very nice, where he was totally intrigued. He was a fan of what we did, he met with Jeremy Latcham in a hotel in London and learned about the characters a little bit. I spoke to him on the phone a few times. We ran it by James who loved it, ran it by Joss [Whedon] who loved it because Thanos is in this universe because of Avengers. Then we shot him and recorded for it.[66]

On July 7, 2014, Gunn announced on social media that he had completed work on the film.[144] In August, regarding the post-credit scene, Gunn revealed that the scene did not involve Howard the Duck when it was originally filmed, rather he was added during post-production,[145] a decision made by "some combination of [Gunn] and the editor Fred Raskin".[146] As the decision to add the character was made late in the post-production process, he had to be designed that day, before being handed off to Sony Pictures Imageworks to animate.[146] Also in August, regarding the pre-credit scene of Groot dancing, Gunn stated that he himself danced to provide motion reference for the animators, and that the decision was made to place the scene before the credits, rather than during or after them, because of positive responses from a test audience, which made Marvel and Gunn feel that they did not want "people walking out and missing this thing".[147] Marvel used design firm Sarofsky once again for the film's title sequences, after liking their work for Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Sarofsky developed a custom typeface based on the font used in the teaser posters for the opening credits, which was tinted orange to offer a better contrast to the film's blue and grey imagery. One of the typography solutions offered before the final product wound up being repurposed as the locator cards seen throughout the film.[148]

The film featured 2,750 visual effects shots,[150] which make up approximately 90% of the film.[149] The visual effects were created by: Moving Picture Company (MPC), who worked on creating Groot, as well as Morag, Xandar, the Dark Aster and the final battle on Xandar;[149]Framestore, who worked on creating Rocket, extending the Kyln prison set and constructing Knowhere;[149][151]Luma Pictures, who worked on Thanos;[149]Method Studios, who worked on creating the Orb opening and revealing its powers, as well as the holographic displays at the Nova Corps command center;[149] Lola VFX; Cantina Creative; Sony Pictures Imageworks, who worked on Howard the Duck and creating the Dark Aster shots with MPC;[146][149] CoSA VFX; Secret Lab; Rise Visual Effects Studios; and Technicolor VFX.[152][153] Pre- and post-visualizations were done by Proof and The Third Floor, with Proof also contributing to the creation of Rocket and Groot.[149]

Producer Nik Korda noted how helpful it was to have Sean Gunn and Krystian Godlewski portray Rocket and Groot on set, as it provided references for lighting and on-set performances to the animators.[31] When creating Groot, MPC realized early on that his eyes would be essential in maintaining the character's human qualities, as his face couldn't move in the way that humans' do. MPC visual effects supervisor Nicolas Aithadi explained that, "When you look at humans what makes the eyes interesting is the imperfections—trying to make these two irises not aimed at the same place—trying to make them strange and look more human."[149] Textures for Groot came from a number of sources, including inspiration from a botanical garden in London, and the character was modeled as individual branches, rigged individually, to simulate a muscle system for the character.[149]

One of the major challenges for Framestore in creating Rocket was his fur. Framestore's Rachel Williams explained that, since "raccoon fur is made up from a layer of short fine hair and a layer of longer thicker hairs", these layers were separated and animated individually, removing the need to use "guide hairs" to control the movements of thick sections of fur.[149] Framestore and MPC worked closely sharing assets, to ensure shots of Rocket at MPC would match the Rocket created by Framestore, and vice versa for when Groot was needed by the other studio.[149]

In order to give Thanos "the performance and the weight that he deserved", Luma Pictures created a new facial animation system to re-create Josh Brolin as a fully CG character, using his "eyes, some of his cheek, how his muscles move when he talks". The character's large jaw, and the deep groves that run down his face, had "to be carefully planned out with the movement of his face."[149]

In August 2013, Gunn revealed that Tyler Bates would be composing the film's score. Gunn stated that Bates would write some of the score first so that he can film to the music, as opposed to scoring to the film.[154] In February 2014, Gunn revealed that the film would incorporate songs from the 1960s and 1970s, such as "Hooked on a Feeling", on a mixtape in Quill's Walkman, which acts as a way for him to stay connected to the Earth, home, and family he lost.[155] In May 2014, Gunn added that using the songs from the '60s and '70s were "cultural reference points", saying, "It’s striking the balance throughout the whole movie, through something that is very unique, but also something that is easily accessible to people at the same time. The music and the Earth stuff is one of those touchstones that we have to remind us that, yeah, [Quill] is a real person from planet Earth who’s just like you and me. Except that he’s in this big outer space adventure."[142]

When choosing the songs, Gunn revealed he "started the process by reading the Billboard charts for all of the top hits of the '70s", downloading "a few hundred" songs that were "semi-familiar—ones you recognize but might not be able to name off the top of your head" and creating a playlist for all the songs that would fit the film tonally. He added that he "would listen to the playlist on my speakers around the house—sometimes I would be inspired to create a scene around a song, and other times I had a scene that needed music and I would listen through the playlist, visualizing various songs, figuring out which would work the best."[156] Most of the songs were played on set to help "the actors and the camera operators find the perfect groove for the shot", with David Bowie's "Moonage Daydream" the only song chosen and added during post-production. Gunn also said that the opening scenes were designed with "Hooked on a Feeling" in mind; however, once Gunn discovered "Come and Get Your Love", the song used in the sequence, Gunn felt it was a "better fit."[156]

Three albums were released by Hollywood Records on July 29, 2014: The film's score, Guardians of the Galaxy (Original Score), which features the music composed by Bates for the film;[157]Guardians of the Galaxy: Awesome Mix Vol. 1 (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack), which comprises the twelve songs from Quill's mixtape; and a deluxe edition featuring both albums.[158] By August 2014, the album which mirrored Quill's mixtape had reached the top of the Billboard 200 chart, becoming the first soundtrack album in history consisting entirely of previously released songs to top the chart.[159] Hollywood Records also released a cassette version of the Awesome Mix Vol. 1 soundtrack on November 28, 2014, as an exclusive to Record Store Day participants. The cassette, which is the first cassette Disney Music Group has released since 2003, comes with a digital download version of the album.[160]

The world premiere of Guardians of the Galaxy was held on July 21, 2014, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood.[161][162] The film was released theatrically in the United Kingdom on July 31, 2014,[142] and in the United States on August 1,[93] in 3D and IMAX 3D.[113][163] The film was released in 4,080 theaters in the United States, making it the widest August release, breaking the five-year record held by G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (4,007 theatres). The breakdown of venues was: 354 IMAX screens, 3,200 3D screens, 350 large format screens and 240 D-Box screens.[164] In its sixth weekend, Guardians of the Galaxy was playing in 69 territories, its most.[165]

In June 2014, Gunn stated that the film had always been planned as a 3D film, and "Unlike many directors, I've been actively involved with converting every shot to 3D, making sure it works perfectly for the story and the film, making sure it's spectacular and immersive without being silly, distracting, or overly showy." Gunn also revealed that the IMAX 3D version would include shifting aspect ratios, to make the viewing experience "even fuller and more encompassing. I've personally chosen all the places where the changes occur… The changing aspect ratios in this case are actually a part of the storytelling."[166] In July 2014, Gunn revealed that there were multiple scenes he had cut from the film, and he was investigating how to release them, either in an extended cut of the film, or as bonus features on the film's home media release.[66]

At Disney's D23 Expo in August 2013, Feige presented footage first revealed at the San Diego Comic-Con in July 2013.[167] The first trailer for the film debuted on Jimmy Kimmel Live! on February 18, 2014, with a special introduction by Chris Pratt.[10] The Los Angeles Times said the trailer delivered "some spirited alien action, with exploding spaceships and muscled bad guys, not to mention a few purely comedic moments," while spotlighting "a number of the offbeat characters."[168]Total Film noted the similarity of the trailer's opening clip to the 1981 film, Raiders of the Lost Ark, which Gunn stated was a big influence for Guardians,[169] and made note of the "edgy" humor used throughout.[170]Total Film also noted the similarity of the trailer to the one debuted at Comic-Con and D23, with a few new shots featuring Nebula and the Collector.[171][172] Social media response to the trailer was strong, with 88,000 mentions across Twitter, Facebook and various blogs in a 12-hour period. Those numbers were comparable to trailers for other superhero films like Man of Steel and The Amazing Spider-Man 2, and noteworthy for the late night time period in which it premiered.[173] The trailer received 22.8 million views in the 24 hours after it debuted.[174] After the debut of the trailer, Blue Swede's version of "Hooked on a Feeling", which was prominently used throughout the trailer, went up 700% in sales the following day.[175] The line from Serafinowicz's character, "What a bunch of a-holes", was only intended to be featured in the trailers, but due to its positive reception, was included in the final cut of the film.[176] Gunn noted that a different teaser was almost released "that was very cheesy [and] sold the movie as something different than what it was", as it tested better than the version that was ultimately released. Gunn credited the marketing teams at Marvel and Disney for having faith in the latter version, despite how it tested, over choosing the version that would have mis-marketed the film.[177]

In March 2014, the Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. episode "T.A.H.I.T.I." introduced the Kree race to the MCU, which began a storyline that recurs throughout the series and involves finding a hidden Kree city.[178][179] Also in March, ABC aired a one-hour television special titled, Marvel Studios: Assembling a Universe, which included a sneak peek of Guardians of the Galaxy.[180] Starting in April 2014, a two-part comic was released, titled Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy Prelude. Written by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning, with art by Wellington Alves, the first issue focused on the background of Nebula and her bond with Thanos; the second issue featured the adventures of Rocket and Groot before they join forces with the other Guardians.[181] In June 2014, Mike Pasciullo, senior VP of Marvel Studios, described the marketing approach for Guardians of the Galaxy by saying that Marvel had "built a robust marketing program for the theatrical release that carefully integrates traditional advertising, social media, digital marketing, strategic promotional partnerships, organic entertainment integrations [and] publicity."[182]

In July 2014, Marvel launched a viral marketing campaign for the film called "Galaxy Getaways", a fictional travel website that allows users to book passage to some of the planets depicted in the film, including Xandar, Morag, and Knowhere.[183] Beginning July 4, 2014, a sneak peek of the film was presented at Disneyland and Disney's Hollywood Studios in the Magic Eye and ABC Sound Studio theaters, respectively.[184] Approximately 14 minutes of the film was screened on July 7, 2014, in IMAX 3D in the United States, and 3D theaters and IMAX 3D in Canada, along with two trailers.[185][186] The screening was met with positive reviews, praising the humor, the 3D and IMAX conversion, and Cooper's portrayal of Rocket.[186][187][188][189] However, it was criticized for beginning partway through the film, not allowing viewers to easily acclimate to the film's tone,[187][190] and for how the general audience might respond to a film within the MCU without established characters making appearances.[190]

On July 12, 2014, Gunn and the actors from the film promoted Guardians of the Galaxy at the Lido 8 Cineplex in Singapore.[191] On July 17, 2014, Disney Interactive released an action RPGvideo game titled Guardians of the Galaxy: The Universal Weapon for iOS, Android and Windows devices.[192] The game's original story was written by Dan Abnett, and was meant to complement the film.[193] On July 21, Pratt, Saldana, Bautista, Diesel and Cooper appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live! to promote the film and debut some additional exclusive content.[162] On July 29, Pratt and Saldana rang the opening bell of the New York Stock Exchange as part of the film's marketing strategy.[194]

On August 14, Marvel released the scene of Groot dancing,[195] which was shortly followed by an announcement from Funko that they were releasing a toy "Dancing Groot". The Hollywood Reporter noted that the quick release of the scene from Marvel two weeks after the film's theatrical release, along with the rush announcement from Funko, indicated the popularity of both the character and the scene.[196] The scene also produced the word "grooting", coined by Michael Rooker, in which a person dances similar to Groot, with the word entering the social media lexicon.[197] Also in August, Marvel held a special screening of the film at Children's Hospital Los Angeles, where Pratt dressed as Star-Lord to entertain the patients.[198]

In June 2012, Marvel filed eleven trademark applications for Guardians of the Galaxy, covering a variety of consumer products, from video games to cosmetics.[199]Disney Consumer Products partnered with Mad Engine, C-Life, New Era, Hasbro, Disguise, Rubies, Sideshow Collectibles, Lego, KIDdesigns, iHome, Funko, Freeze, Fast Forward, and Innovative Designs to produce merchandise for the film, with releases starting in June 2014.[182][200][201][202] Mad Engine and C-Life were partnered as the core apparel outfitters, producing a line of T-shirts and fleece jackets, while New Era produced headwear and hats.[200] Hasbro produced toys for the film; Disguise and Rubies produced the costumes; and Sideshow Collectibles was given charge of the collectibles.[182][200] Lego announced three toy sets based on scenes from the film,[201] while iHome created character speakers, Funko made vinyl bobble heads, Freeze crafted 1980s-inspired apparel, and backpacks and stationery were made by Fast Forward and Innovative Designs.[182] Despite first films in a potential new franchise usually being off-limits to licensees, Marvel used Iron Man's success as evidence of unknown characters becoming hits with audiences to attract partnerships. Licensees embraced Rocket as the film's potential breakout character, with Drax and Gamora being used for older demographics; Star-Lord's obsession with 1980s nostalgia, including his "Awesome Mix Vo. 1" cassette, has also served as a basis for tie-in products.[182] In August 2014, Funko announced a toy based on "Dancing Groot",[196] while in October 2014, Marvel and KID designs announced a replica of dancing Groot, for release in December 2014.[203]

In December 2014, Disney made a second marketing push, to coincide with the film's home media release with additional merchandise. Merchandise partners included: KID designs with its replica dancing Groot; Funko's Fabrikations line with a plush Rocket; Mattel’s Hot Wheels character cars; C-Life, Hybrid-Jem Sportswear, Freeze, MZ Berger, Accutime, AME and Her Universe with apparel; ThinkGeek with jewelry and watches; American Greetings with cards; Jay Franco with homegoods; and Vandor with drinkware. Additional partners included Mad Engine, Just Play, and Dragon Models. Paul Gitter, senior vice-president of Marvel licensing at Disney Consumer Products said, "The demand for Guardians of the Galaxy merchandise has been truly out of this world. Our merchandising and retail partners are doing a tremendous job of providing creative and innovative ways for fans to continue interacting with these popular characters and showcase their fandom year round."[204]

Guardians of the Galaxy earned $333.2 million in North America and an estimated $440.2 million in other countries, for a worldwide total of $773.3 million.[3] The film became the third-highest-grossing film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, behind The Avengers and Iron Man 3.[209] It was the third-highest-grossing 2014 film (behind Transformers: Age of Extinction and The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies) and the highest-grossing superhero film of 2014.[2][210] It had a worldwide opening weekend of $160.7 million.[211]Deadline.com calculated the net profit for the film to be $204.2 million, when factoring together "production budgets, P&A, talent participations and other costs, with box office grosses, and ancillary revenues from VOD to DVD and TV," placing it fifth on their list of 2014's "Most Valuable Blockbusters".[212]

Guardians of the Galaxy earned $11.2 million on its Thursday night pre-opening, surpassing Captain America: The Winter Soldier's gross ($10.2 million) for the biggest Thursday evening start for a movie in 2014.[213] IMAX accounted for 17% of the total gross ($1.9 million), which was the biggest August pre-release in IMAX format.[164] On its opening day, the film earned $37.8 million, including the Thursday night earnings.[214]Guardians of the Galaxy was the number one movie during its opening weekend and grossed $94.3 million, setting an August weekend record.[215] During the opening weekend, IMAX earnings amounted to $11.7 million and 3-D showings accounted for 45% of ticket sales. The film's success was partially attributed to its appeal to both genders: the opening-weekend audience was 44% female, which is the biggest proportion ever for a MCU film; 55% of the opening-weekend audience was over the age of 25.[215]

Although the film fell to second place in its second and third weekends, behind Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles,[216][217] the film was number one in its fourth, fifth, and sixth weekend.[218][219][220] By doing so, it became the first film in 2014 to top the domestic box office in non-consecutive weeks,[218] the first film of the summer (May–August) to be the number one film in three weekends[221] and the first MCU film to be the top film for four weeks, surpassing Captain America: The Winter Soldier and The Avengers, both of which were number one for three weeks, and tied The Dark Knight for the most weeks at number one among comic book-based films.[222] Phil Contrino, vice president and chief analyst of BoxOffice.com felt Guardians success was "unconventional" and was "shattering expectations".[219] The film remained in the top 10 for ten weekends.[223]

Guardians of the Galaxy was released in 42 international markets and grossed $66.4 million on its opening weekend. The biggest debuts came from Russia ($13 million), the United Kingdom ($10.8 million), Mexico ($6.5 million), Brazil ($6.5 million), and South Korea ($4.7 million).[211] The film topped the weekend box office two times, in its first and second weekends.[211][229] In its eleventh weekend, the film opened in China, earning $29.8 million, its largest, and became the third highest opening in the country for any Disney release, behind Iron Man 3 and Captain America: The Winter Soldier, and was an all-time industry record opening in October.[230] The following weekend saw an additional $21.3 million from China, making China the highest-grossing market with $69 million.[209] The film's three biggest markets in total earnings were: China ($96.5 million), the UK ($47.4 million), and Russia ($37.5 million).[231]

The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 91% approval rating with an average rating of 7.7/10 based on 295 reviews. The website's consensus reads, "Guardians of the Galaxy is just as irreverent as fans of the frequently zany Marvel comic would expect—as well as funny, thrilling, full of heart, and packed with visual splendor."[232]Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 76 out of 100, based on 52 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[233]CinemaScore audiences gave Guardians of the Galaxy an "A" grade rating on an A+ to F scale,[234] while earning an "A+" among under-18 and 25- to 34-year-old viewers.[235]

Scott Foundas of Variety said "James Gunn's presumptive franchise-starter is overlong, overstuffed and sometimes too eager to please, but the cheeky comic tone keeps things buoyant—as does Chris Pratt's winning performance", and praised the film's look created by cinematographer Ben Davis, production designer Charles Wood, and special effects makeup designer David White.[152] Justin Lowe of The Hollywood Reporter also praised the film's look, and felt "A well-matched ensemble rises to the challenge of launching a heroic origin film with distinctive style, abundant thrills and no shortage of humor."[236]The Daily Telegraph's Robbie Collin said, "A brand new summer family blockbuster this may be, but it plays by old, half-forgotten rules; trimming out the clutter and cross-referencing for snappy, streamlined, Saturday-cartoon fun".[237] Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times said, "Blessed with a loose, anarchic B-picture soul that encourages you to enjoy yourself even when you're not quite sure what's going on, the scruffy Guardians is irreverent in a way that can bring the first Star Wars to mind, in part because it has some of the most unconventional heroes this side of the Mos Eisley Cantina."[238] Manohla Dargis of The New York Times said, "While Guardians takes you down one after another crazy narrative turn, it also pulls you into—and, for the most part, keeps you in—a fully realized other world."[239]Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun-Times said, "Guardians of the Galaxy is a late summer treat—a mostly lighthearted and self-referential comic-book movie with loads of whiz-bang action, some laugh-out-loud moments and a couple of surprisingly beautiful and touching scenes as well," calling it "a refreshing confection of entertainment."[240]Jim Starlin, creator of Drax the Destroyer, Gamora, and Thanos, said it "might be Marvel's best movie yet".[241]

Jake Coyle of the Associated Press was more critical of the film, calling it "terribly overstuffed and many of the jokes get drowned out by the special effects… The pervasive movie references detract from the stab at freshness, and Guardians depends all too much on the whimsy of '70s anthems for an original beat." He also felt that Close, Reilly and del Toro were underused in the film.[242]Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle said, "In place of wit, Guardians offers a sort of generalized willingness to be amusing, an atmosphere of high spirits that feels like lots of people pumping air into a tire that has a hole in it. Everyone is clearly working, but nothing is really happening–and yet the effort is so evident that there's an impulse to reward it."[243] Kyle Smith of the New York Post also had a negative response to the film, comparing it to Howard the Duck and Green Lantern, and criticizing the dialogue, villains, soundtrack, lack of suspense, and the characters of Quill, Rocket, and Drax.[244] The film received mixed reviews in China, where viewers complained that the film's "poor subtitle translation not only spoiled the fun of watching it, but also made it difficult to understand its humor."[245]

1.
Guardians of the Galaxy (1969 team)
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The original Guardians of the Galaxy are a fictional superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The Guardians first appear in Marvel Super-Heroes #18, the team first appeared in the partial reprint title Marvel Super-Heroes with issue #18, written by Arnold Drake and penciled by Gene Colan. They appeared sporadically in several Marvel titles, such as Marvel Two-In-One #4–5 and Giant Size Defenders #5, in each case, other heroes such as Captain America, the Thing, and the Defenders aid them in their war against the alien Badoon. The Guardians were next featured in Marvel Presents #3–12 and this was followed by a series of appearances in Thor Annual #6, The Avengers #167–177 and #181, Ms. Marvel #23, Marvel Team-Up #86, and Marvel Two-in-One #61-#63 & #69. In the early 1990s, the Guardians starred in a comic that ran for 62 issues. This series was written and illustrated by Jim Valentino. With issue #29 Michael Gallagher commenced writing the title, and continued until its cancellation with issue #62, a spin-off four-issue miniseries, Galactic Guardians, followed. A second volume was published in May 2008, written by Dan Abnett, the title, set in a different timeline, features a new team, drawn from participants in the Annihilation, Conquest storyline. The 1969 team made guest appearances in #12–17 and #25, a new ongoing series starring the original Guardians, titled Guardians 3000 and written by Abnett, launched in 2014. The Guardians are active in the 31st century in an alternative time-line of the Marvel Universe known as Earth-691, the original members of the team include Major Vance Astro, an astronaut from the 20th century Earth who spends a thousand years travelling to Alpha Centauri in suspended animation. He is also the alternative universe counterpart of Vance Astrovik. Other original team members are Martinex TNaga, a crystalline being from Pluto, Captain Charlie-27, a soldier from Jupiter, and Yondu Udonta, a blue-skinned noble savage from Centauri-IV. Each is apparently the last of their kind and they are forced to unite as a team against the actions of the Badoon, the Guardians eventually defeat the Badoon, but soon find themselves facing a new foe called Korvac, who was in part a creation of the Badoon. Wanting to expand the Guardians to a multiple team organization, Martinex eventually leaves the team to look for members for a second unit. During their second mission, the team that was to become the Earth-616 incarnation of the Guardians discover a time displaced Vance Astro in a block of ice floating in space. It is his introduction as Major Victory of the Guardians of the Galaxy that inspires the team to take up the name. Only Starhawk, who is changed with each reboot but is one who knows about the changes, realizes anything is different, in #17, the Guardians future was a universe where only a small portion remained undestroyed, which had been taken over by the Badoon. A warning was sent to the present day, though at the cost of the universe being ended, the Vance Astro of the modern-day Guardians is revealed to be a Major Victory from one of these altered futures, rather than the original

2.
Kevin Feige
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Kevin Feige, p. g. a. is an American film producer and president of Marvel Studios. The films he has produced have a worldwide box office gross of $10 billion. Feige spent his teen years in New Jersey and his grandfather had been a television producer in the 1950s, having worked on soap operas including The Guiding Light and As the World Turns. After high school Feige applied to the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts and his first five applications were rejected, but he persevered and was accepted on the sixth. His early work includes being assistant to executive producer Lauren Shuler Donner on Volcano, in the year 2000 he was hired by Marvel as a producer. On the first X-Men film, Lauren Shuler Donner made Feige an associate producer, impressing Avi Arad, he was hired to work as his second-in-command at Marvel Studios that same year. Feige was named president of production for Marvel Studios in March 2007, Feige received the Motion Picture Showman of the Year award at the ICG Publicists Guild Awards on February 22,2013. As of April 2015, his contract with Marvel Studios will end in 2018, as of at least 2014, Feige was married to wife Caitlin. Kevin Feige at the Internet Movie Database

3.
Guardians of the Galaxy (2008 team)
–
The Guardians of the Galaxy are a fictional spacefaring superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. These Guardians first appeared in Annihilation, Conquest #6, a feature film based on this team was released in 2014. A sequel, titled Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.2, is scheduled to be released in 2017 and this Guardians team is the second to operate under the name, following the original team created by Arnold Drake and Gene Colan in 1969. The second volume of the title was published in May 2008, written by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning and featured a new team of characters from the Annihilation, Conquest storyline. Abnett and Lannings work on the Annihilation, Conquest story laid the foundation for the new Guardians of the Galaxy book that they had been wanting to launch for some time. It also provided the motivation the team would need, as on the heels of two wars, theyre out to prevent any new Annihilation-size disasters from erupting. The title ran parallel with Nova vol,4, which was also written by Abnett and Lanning. The two crossed over in the storylines War of Kings and Realm of Kings, paul Pelletier pencilled the first seven issues. Brad Walker and Wes Craig alternated pencilling tasks from #8 to #25, the book was cancelled in April 2010 with issue 25. Some plot threads were concluded in The Thanos Imperative 1–6 and its two one-shots, the team appeared reassembled in Avengers Assemble #4–8. The Guardians of the Galaxy appeared in a new series for Marvel NOW. starting with issue 0.1 written by Brian Michael Bendis, in addition to the previous Guardians, Iron Man also joined the team. Later issues of the series saw Angela, Agent Venom, with the success of the film adaptation, spinoff books were also created as solo titles featuring Star-Lord, Rocket Raccoon, and Groot. Guardians of the Galaxy was relaunched as part of the All-New, All-Different Marvel initiative with Brian Michael Bendis and Valerio Schiti returning as writer and artist respectively. The series sees Peter Quill and Gamora leaving the team, and Rocket becoming the new teams leader. As a part of the All-New, All-Different Marvel initiative, all the cast of the movie Guardians will get their own solo series. Star-Lord will continue as a series written by Sam Humphries, while Rocket Raccoon. Drax and Gamora will also get their own series written by UFC fighter CM Punk. To this end, he recruits Adam Warlock, Drax the Destroyer, Gamora, Phyla-Vell, Rocket Raccoon, on the recommendation of their ally, Nova, the group establishes a base of operations on the space station Knowhere, which possesses a teleportation system with near-universal range

4.
Dan Abnett
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Dan Abnett is a British comic book writer and novelist. He has been a frequent collaborator with fellow writer Andy Lanning, in 2009 he released his first original fiction novels through Angry Robot books. Abnett read English and matriculated at St Edmund Hall, Oxford in 1984 and he attended some subjects with Stewart Lee. As one of the more prolific 2000 AD writers, Abnett was responsible for the creation of one of the better known. Other original stories include Black Light, Badlands, Atavar, Downlode Tales, Sancho Panzer, Roadkill and Wardog, Abnett has also contributed to some of the comics major ongoing series, including Judge Dredd, Durham Red and Rogue Trooper. At DC he is probably best known for his 2000 relaunch of Legion of Super-Heroes as the limited series Legion Lost and his work for DC is usually co-written with Andy Lanning and they are often referred to as DnA. The two co-created the Resurrection Man character with artist Jackson Guice in 1997, for Dark Horse Comics he co-wrote Planet of the Apes, Blood Lines with Ian Edginton, as well a penning Lords of Misrule and HyperSonic. Abnetts First & Only was one of the first novels published by Games Workshops Black Library and he has also authored four comic strip series, later collected as graphic novels, for Games Workshops Black Library imprint, Damnation Crusade, Lone Wolves, Inquisitor Ascendant and Titan. In 1994, he wrote a comic to promote the opening of the Nemesis roller coaster at Alton Towers. At 2000 AD he finished the book of The V. C. s and started Black Atlantic in the Judge Dredd Megazine. In 2008 Abnett and Lanning took over The Authority as part of the Worlds End relaunch of the core Wildstorm titles, in addition, Abnett has done a lot of work on Marvels cosmic characters. They expanded on their work in Annihilation, Nova and Nova and they said we were approached by Andy Schmidt, who edited the first Annihilation event, and asked to pilot the next event, which Bill Rosemann is editing. They ended up writing the Prologue, the Nova series crossover, the characters then became the core of a new Guardians of the Galaxy. The contract allowed them to existing commitments, so they will be able to finish their fifteen issue run on The Authority. In addition Marvel has allowed the contract to include a couple of exceptions that are not direct competition, for example, Dans 2000AD work in the UK and his Games Workshop novels. This then led straight into Realm of Kings which deals with how the different groups deal with the fallout from the events in War of Kings, DnA have also written an Iron Man/Thor limited series. He and Lanning have also written Fusion, a series between Marvel and Top Cow. He has also started Insurrection, a series in Judge Dredd Megazine that aims to bring to the Dredd Universe something of the epic scale of the stuff I write for Warhammer 40K

5.
Andy Lanning
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Andy Lanning is a British comic book writer and inker, known for his work for Marvel Comics and DC Comics, and for his collaboration with Dan Abnett. Lanning works primarily at Marvel Comics and DC Comics as an inker and he has also pencilled books, such as his creation The Sleeze Brothers. Lannings writing has included his and Abnetts 2000 relaunch of DCs title Legion of Super-Heroes, the two co-created the Resurrection Man character with artist Jackson Guice in 1997. Lanning and Abnett also collaborated on an ongoing Nova series for Marvel, the duo previously authored a Nova miniseries as a tie-in for the Marvel crossover Annihilation, starring Richard Rider, now the only member of the Xandarian Nova Corps. This led into their piloting the Annihilation, Conquest storyline, Lanning teamed up with Abnett to write the latest incarnation of The Authority, with Simon Coleby on art, as part of the Worlds End relaunch of the core Wildstorm titles. The contract allows them to existing commitments, so they will be able to finish their fifteen issue run on The Authority. Their first major work which followed this was War of Kings and he is also writing a Marvel/Top Cow crossover, Fusion. Abnett & Lanning on Nova, Newsarama,10 April 2008 Exclusive, interview with Legion Lost writers Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning

6.
Chris Pratt
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Christopher Michael Chris Pratt is an American actor. Pratt came to prominence from his roles, including Bright Abbott in The WB drama series Everwood and Andy Dwyer in the NBC sitcom Parks. His early film career began with supporting roles in mainstream films as Wanted, Jennifers Body, Moneyball, The Five-Year Engagement, Zero Dark Thirty, Delivery Man. In 2015, he starred in Jurassic World, the installment in the Jurassic Park franchise and his most financially successful film to date. Later that year, Time named Pratt one of the 100 most influential people in the world on the annual Time 100 list, Pratt continued his leading man status with The Magnificent Seven and Passengers. He will reprise his role as Star-Lord in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.2, Avengers, Infinity War, Pratt was raised in Lake Stevens, Washington, where he placed fifth in a high school state wrestling tournament. His wrestling coach asked him what he wished to do with his life, and Pratt recalled, I was like, I dont know and he told The Independent, Its a pretty awesome place to be homeless. We just drank and smoked weed and worked minimal hours, just enough to cover gas, food, at 19 years old, Pratt was waiting tables at the Bubba Gump Shrimp Company restaurant in Maui when he was discovered by actress and director Rae Dawn Chong. She cast him in her debut, the short horror film Cursed Part 3. Pratts first regular role was as Harold Brighton Bright Abbott on the series Everwood. After Everwoods cancellation, he joined the cast of The O. C. for its fourth season and he also had an appearance in the 2008 action film Wanted. Pratt read for the role of Captain James T. Kirk in the 2009 film Star Trek, and for Jake Sully in the 2009 film Avatar, the latter audition was particularly humbling for Pratt, who recalls, They said they want somebody that has that thing, that it factor. I walked into that room knowing that I did not have that thing, Pratt resolved to rethink his career ambitions, commenting, People have to work. I just dont want it to be at a fucking restaurant, in 2009, Pratt began playing Andy Dwyer on the NBC comedy series Parks and Recreation. Originally meant to be a character, Andy was so likeable that producers asked Pratt back as a series regular. This led to the character, who was fairly unlikable for much of the first season, Pratt portrayed Oakland Athletics first baseman/catcher Scott Hatteberg in the 2011 film Moneyball. He was initially told that he was too fat to play Hatteberg, as he had gained 40 pounds, deciding to lose weight, he worked out continuously, regularly checking to see if the part was cast, losing a total of 30 pounds

7.
Zoe Saldana
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Zoe Saldana-Perego, known professionally as Zoe Saldana, is an American actress and dancer. Following her performances with the theater group Faces, Saldana made her debut in an episode of Law & Order. Her film career began a year later with Center Stage, where she played a ballet dancer. Saldanas breakthrough came in 2009 with the roles of Nyota Uhura in Star Trek, the latter film received widespread acclaim, and is the highest-grossing film of all time. Saldana continued her career with such as Colombiana, Guardians of the Galaxy. Saldana was born in Passaic, New Jersey and her father, Aridio Saldaña, was Dominican, while her mother, Asalia Nazario, is Puerto Rican. Saldana also has Lebanese and Haitian roots and she spent the majority of her early childhood growing up in Jackson Heights, New York. She was raised bilingual, speaking English and Spanish and she has two sisters, named Cisely and Mariel. Their father died in a car crash when Zoe was 9 years old, Saldana discovered her love of dance in the Dominican Republic and enrolled in the ECOS Espacio de Danza Academy, she studied various forms of dance but describes ballet as her first passion. She told Vanity Fair that she quit ballet because she did not have the feet and had too much pride, the family returned to New York after her sophomore year in high school. Concurrently, she performed with the New York Youth Theater, her appearance in their production of Joseph and her previous dance training, and her acting experience, helped her land her first film role, playing talented and headstrong ballet student Eva Rodriguez in Center Stage. Saldana was still a member of Faces when she gained exposure in an episode of Law & Order which first aired in 1999 and she left school after Center Stage, subsequently appearing in the Britney Spears vehicle Crossroads. The film was met with reviews from critics, but became somewhat of a box office success. The same year Saldana started in the comedy-drama Drumline, alongside Nick Cannon, as to why she never appeared in any further films in the franchise, Saldana revealed that she almost quit acting following disrespectful treatment on set of the film. She then appeared in The Terminal as Dolores Torres, an officer and Star Trek fan. In 2004 she also made appearances in Haven and Temptation, both of which had little to no box office success, in 2005, Saldana appeared in Constellation, Guess Who with Ashton Kutcher, and Dirty Deeds. She then starred in the romantic comedy-dramas Premium in 2006 and After Sex in 2007, the same year Saldana starred in Blackout, a television film set in New York City during the Northeast Blackout of 2003. The film premiered at the 2007 Zurich Film Festival and debuted on BET in 2008, Saldana also had a small role as Angie Jones in the 2008 box office smash Vantage Point

8.
Dave Bautista
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David Michael Dave Bautista Jr. is an American actor and former professional wrestler, mixed martial artist, and bodybuilder. He holds the record for the longest reign as World Heavyweight Champion at 282 days and he was the winner of the 2005 Royal Rumble match and went on to headline WrestleMania 21, one of the top five highest-grossing pay-per-view events in professional wrestling history. When Bautista returned to WWE in 2014, he won the 2014 Royal Rumble match, in August 2012, Bautista signed a contract with Classic Entertainment & Sports to fight in mixed martial arts. He won his MMA debut on October 6,2012, defeating Vince Lucero via TKO in the first round and he was representing the Philippines during the fight. Bautista first entered the world of acting in 2006, Bautista is set to reprise his role as Drax in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.2 and Avengers, Infinity War. He has also appeared in several films since 2009. Bautista was born in Washington, D. C and his mother, Donna Raye, has Greek ancestry, and his father, David Michael Bautista, is the son of Filipino immigrants. His parents separated and eventually divorced and his paternal grandfather served in the Philippines military, worked as a taxicab driver, barber, and held other jobs to feed the family. Bautista has said that he is not ashamed to admit he lived in poverty and he has admitted to having a hard life, before he had reached the age of nine, three murders had occurred on his front lawn. As young as age 13, he was stealing automobiles, by age 17, Bautista was considered estranged from his parents and lived on his own. He later admitted, I am proud of my parents and they are good, honest, hard-working folks. They taught me the values of working hard and he became a regular bouncer for clubs until he was arrested after a fight that left two patrons injured, one of whom was rendered unconscious. After a trial, he was sentenced to one year of probation and he also worked as a lifeguard before pursuing a career in bodybuilding. He credits bodybuilding with potentially saving his life, Bautista tried out at the World Championship Wrestling Power Plant, but was told he would never make it in the wrestling business by Sgt. Bautista also trained with Marrese Crump in Muay Thai and Eskrima, most recently, he trained at Cesar Gracie Jiu-Jitsu under Cesar Gracie and has become a purple belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. He made his Ohio Valley Wrestling debut in 2000 under the ring name Leviathan, as a member of the Disciples of Synn stable, he went undefeated until being beaten at Christmas Chaos by Kane with help from Stone Cold Steve Austin. He later won the OVW Heavyweight Championship from The Machine Doug Basham before losing the belt to The Prototype, a few months later, Bautista left OVW after he was promoted WWEs main roster. While still in OVW, Bautista began appearing on non-televised WWE events and he began his televised WWE career on May 9,2002 on an episode of SmackDown. as Deacon Batista, a villainous enforcer for Reverend DVon

9.
Vin Diesel
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Mark Sinclair, better known by his stage name Vin Diesel, is an American actor, producer, director and screenwriter. He is well known for his portrayals of Dominic Toretto in The Fast, Riddick in The Chronicles of Riddick series and Xander Cage in xXx series. He was also a producer on sequels in these franchises, Diesel has also starred in films such as The Pacifier and Find Me Guilty. His voice acting work includes The Iron Giant, the video game spin-offs from The Chronicles of Riddick franchise and he wrote, directed, produced, and starred in a short film titled Multi-Facial and the feature-length drama film Strays. He is the founder of the production companies One Race Films, Racetrack Records, Diesel was born as Mark Sinclair in Alameda County, California, along with his twin brother, Paul. His mother, Delora Sherleen Vincent, is an astrologer, Diesel has stated that he is of ambiguous ethnicity. His mothers background includes English, German, and Scottish and he has never met his biological father, and has stated that all I know from my mother is that I have connections to many different cultures. Diesel has self-identified as definitely a person of colour, and has stated that his parents relationship would have been illegal in parts of the United States due to anti-miscegenation laws. He was raised in New York City by his Caucasian mother and African-American stepfather, Irving H. Vincent, Diesel made his stage debut at age seven when he appeared in the childrens play Dinosaur Door, written by Barbara Garson. The play was produced at Theater for the New City in New Yorks Greenwich Village and his involvement in the play came about when he, his brother, and some friends had broken into the Theater for the New Citys space on Jane Street with the intent to vandalize it. They were confronted by the artistic director, Crystal Field. Diesel remained involved with the theater throughout adolescence, going on to attend the citys Hunter College and he has identified himself as a multi-faceted actor as a result of early difficulties finding roles due to his mixed heritage. Diesels first film role was an uncredited appearance in the drama film Awakenings. He then wrote, directed, produced, and starred in the drama film Multi-Facial. The film was selected for screening at the 1995 Cannes Festival, Diesel made his first feature-length film, Strays, an urban drama in which he played a gang leader whose love for a woman inspires him to try to change his ways. Written, directed, and produced by Diesel, the film was selected for competition at the 1997 Sundance Festival and he was then cast in Steven Spielbergs 1998 Oscar-winning film Saving Private Ryan on the poignancy of his performance in Multi-Facial. In 1999, he provided the voice of the character in the animated film The Iron Giant. Diesel had a role in the drama thriller Boiler Room

10.
Bradley Cooper
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Bradley Charles Cooper is an American actor and producer. He was one of the worlds highest-paid actors for three years, and has been nominated for various accolades, including four Academy Awards, two BAFTA Awards and two Golden Globe Awards. Cooper appeared in Forbes Celebrity 100 on two occasions and Times list of 100 most influential people in the world in 2015, Cooper enrolled in the MFA program at the Actors Studio, New York City in 2000. His career began with a guest role in the television series Sex and he first gained recognition as Will Tippin in the spy-action television show Alias, and achieved minor success with a supporting part in the comedy film Wedding Crashers. His breakthrough role came in 2009 with The Hangover, a successful comedy which spawned two sequels in 2011 and 2013. Coopers portrayal of a writer in the thriller Limitless and a rookie police officer in the crime drama The Place Beyond the Pines drew praise from critics. He found greater success with the romantic comedy-drama Silver Linings Playbook, the comedy crime film American Hustle. For his work in films, Cooper was nominated for Academy Awards—two Best Actor, one Best Supporting Actor. Cooper became the actor to receive an Academy Award nomination in three consecutive years. In 2014, he portrayed Joseph Merrick in a Broadway revival of The Elephant Man, Cooper was born on January 5,1975, in Philadelphia, and grew up in the nearby communities of Jenkintown and Rydal. His mother, Gloria, worked for the local NBC affiliate and his father, Charles Cooper, who died in January 2011, worked as a stockbroker for Merrill Lynch. Charles Cooper was of Irish descent, while Gloria Cooper is of Italian ancestry, Cooper has an older sister, Holly. He was raised as a Roman Catholic and he had cholesteatoma in his ear soon after his birth, and punctured his eardrum when he started diving at an early age. Describing himself as a child, Cooper has said, I never lived the life of Oh, People thought I was a girl when I was little, because I looked like a girl—maybe because my mother would keep my hair really long. He excelled at basketball, and enjoyed cooking, I used to have come over after kindergarten. I prided myself in taking whatever was in the fridge and turning it into lasagna and he initially wanted to attend a military academy and move to Japan to become a ninja. At an early age, his father introduced him to films like The Elephant Man, while attending Germantown Academy, he worked at the Philadelphia Daily News. He says that in school he was neither the smartest person nor the coolest kid, after graduating from the academy in 1993, Cooper studied at Villanova University for a year before transferring to Georgetown University

11.
Lee Pace
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Lee Grinner Pace is an American actor. Pace has been featured in film, stage and television and he currently stars as protagonist Joe MacMillan in AMCs Halt and Catch Fire. He also played Roy Walker/the Masked Bandit in the 2006 film The Fall and he has appeared in film series, including The Twilight Saga, Breaking Dawn – Part 2 as Garrett and The Hobbit trilogy as Thranduil. Pace was born in Chickasha, Oklahoma, the son of Charlotte, a schoolteacher, and James Roy Pace and he has two siblings, a sister named Sally and a younger brother named Willam Pace. As a child, Pace spent several years in Saudi Arabia, where his father worked in the oil business, Pace attended Klein High School in Spring, Texas, a suburb of Houston, with future fellow actor Matt Bomer. Pace temporarily quit high school to act at Houstons Alley Theatre before returning to graduate, at the Alley, he appeared in productions of The Spiders Web and The Greeks. In 1997, Pace was accepted by the Juilliard Schools Drama Division as a member of Group 30, while there, he acted in several plays, including Romeo and Juliet as Romeo, Richard III in the title role, and Julius Caesar as Cassius. He graduated from Juilliard with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, after graduation, Pace starred in several off-Broadway plays, including The Credeaux Canvas and The Fourth Sister. He also starred in a production of Craig Lucass Small Tragedy, in 2006, Pace starred in the two-character play Guardians by Peter Morris, which earned Pace his second nomination for a Lortel Award as Outstanding Actor. April 19,2011 marked Paces Broadway debut, when The Normal Heart began its previews, the show ran for a total of 96 performances, with its closing night on July 10,2011. Pace played the character Bruce Niles in the show, Pace has been cast as composer Vincenzo Bellini in Golden Age, which began previews November 15,2012. The play, written by Terrence McNally, began its run at the Manhattan Theatre Club December 4,2012. The previews were scheduled for November 13,2012 but two shows were cancelled as a result of Hurricane Sandy. Pace first gained recognition for his role in the 2003 film Soldier’s Girl, based on real events, in which he played the central role of Calpernia Addams. Of the role, Pace has said Not even my excellent training at Juilliard prepared me for my first movie role, here I was, this 6′3″,190 pound, lanky kid from Chickasha, Oklahoma, not knowing how to begin being a woman. So I saw documentaries about transsexuals, I lost twenty-five pounds, there were times I’d look in the mirror and wonder, ‘What am I doing to my life here. My dad is going to kill me. ’ But the reason I went into acting was to be able to play parts as complicated, in playing a transsexual, I got the chance to help change people’s perspective about other people, and that is a powerful thing. I’m playing a swashbuckling bandit in my film, but I’ll always be proud of Soldier’s Girl ”

12.
Michael Rooker
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Michael Rooker was born in Jasper, Alabama. He has eight brothers and sisters and his parents divorced when he was 13 years old, and he moved with his mother and siblings to Chicago, Illinois, where he studied at the Goodman School of Drama. Rooker made his debut in 1986, playing the title role in Henry, Portrait of a Serial Killer. He was acting in a play when the director, who was going to do the prosthetics for Henry. Rooker did not care if the script was good or bad, Henry was a critical success and got Rooker noticed in the filmmaking industry, which led to his receiving more film roles. He also starred in Mallrats, Rosewood, The 6th Day, Slither, Jumper, Super, in June 2010, he revealed via Twitter that he was to appear in the AMC television series The Walking Dead as Merle Dixon, one of the survivors of a zombie apocalypse. He guest starred in two episodes of the first season and one of the season before finally becoming a series regular for the third season. Rooker played Yondu in the Marvel Studios film Guardians of the Galaxy, Rooker announced at the Wizard World Tulsa Comic Con that he will reprise his role as Yondu in the announced Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.2 in 2017. Rooker lives in California, and is married to Margot Rooker, Michael Rooker at the Internet Movie Database Michael Rooker Official Website Michael Rooker on Facebook

13.
Karen Gillan
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Karen Sheila Gillan is a Scottish actress and former model. She is known for the role of Amelia Pond, companion to the Eleventh Doctor and she took part in the upcoming films Jumanji, The Circle, Avengers, Infinity War and its untitled sequel. In 2017, she directed her first feature film Tupperware Party, Gillan was born and raised in Inverness in the Scottish highlands, the only child of Marie and Raymond Gillan, a singer and recording artist. When she turned 16, Gillan moved to Edinburgh and completed an HNC Acting and she moved to London at age 18 to study at the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts drama school, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts in acting. While studying at Italia Conti, Gillan was scouted by a modelling agency, Gillan has said she would not give up her acting career to return to modelling, stating that she enjoyed modelling but acting was always her main interest and goal. Gillans early television acting career included guest appearances on several series, with her first role being in an episode of Rebus. She appeared in the Channel 4 film Stacked, playing the role of Ginny. Gillan also appeared on TV in a role in a horror project entitled The Well. Part of the BBCs multimedia switch programming, the short episodes interconnect with online games that explore the environments presented in the series. She was cast for the role of the Eleventh Doctors first companion, Amy Pond and she made her first on-screen appearance as Amy Pond in The Eleventh Hour with her cousin Caitlin Blackwood portraying a young Amelia Pond. She appeared in the sixth series in 2011 and the first five episodes of the seventh series in 2012. She reprised the role in an appearance in the 2013 Christmas special The Time of the Doctor. Gillan had appeared in Doctor Who once before in the four episode The Fires of Pompeii in the role of a Soothsayer. Gillan made her first theatre appearance playing the role of Shirley in John Osbornes play Inadmissible Evidence along with Douglas Hodge, the play debuted at the Donmar Warehouse on 16 October 2011. During an interview at the 2011 San Diego Comic-Con, Gillan revealed that she would be returning to Doctor Who for its seventh series, on 15 December 2011, it was announced Gillan and Arthur Darvill would be leaving Doctor Who during the seventh series in 2012. In August 2011, it was announced that Gillan would star in an indie Scottish rom-com called Not Another Happy Ending alongside Emun Elliott, filming took place in July 2012, though Elliott was replaced by Stanley Weber. Gillan told journalists that she was happy to be involved in a Scottish production that isnt about drug use or fighting the English, the film premiered at the Edinburgh International Film Festival in June 2013. Gillan starred in the role in the supernatural horror movie Oculus

14.
Djimon Hounsou
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Djimon Gaston Hounsou is a Beninese-American actor and model. Hounsou began his career appearing in music videos and he made his film debut in the Sandra Bernhard film Without You Im Nothing and gained widespread recognition for his role as Cinqué in the Steven Spielberg film Amistad. He gained further recognition for his roles in Gladiator, In America, Blood Diamond, Guardians of the Galaxy and he has been nominated for a Golden Globe Award, three Screen Actors Guild Awards and two Academy Awards. Hounsou was born in Cotonou, Bénin, to Albertine and Pierre Hounsou and he emigrated to Lyon in France at the age of thirteen with his brother, Edmond. Soon after arriving in France, Hounsou dropped out of school, a chance meeting with a photographer led to Hounsou being introduced to fashion designer Thierry Mugler, who encouraged Hounsou to pursue a modeling career. In 1987, Hounsou became a model and established a career in Paris and he moved to the United States in 1990. Between 1989 and 1991, Hounsou appeared in the videos for Straight Up by Paula Abdul, Love Will Never Do by Janet Jackson. Hounsous film debut was in the 1990 Sandra Bernhard film Without You Im Nothing and he had television parts on Beverly Hills,90210 and ER and a guest starring role on Alias. Hounsou captured a larger role in the fiction film Stargate. Hounsou received wide acclaim and a Golden Globe Award nomination for his role as Cinqué in the 1997 Steven Spielberg film Amistad. He gained further notice as Juba in the 2000 film Gladiator, in 2004, Hounsou was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for In America, making him the fourth African male to be nominated for an Oscar. Hounsou also acted in a role in the 2009 science fiction film Push. In 2011, he starred as a French commando in the French film Forces spéciales, director Tim Story told IGN that if he were to do a third Fantastic Four movie, he would like to have Hounsou as the Black Panther. In November 2008, it was announced that Hounsou would be providing the voice of the Black Panther in the series of the same name. Hounsou had signed on to play Abdiel in the version of John Miltons Paradise Lost with Benjamin Walker. The film however was scrapped in early February 2012, in 2013, he appeared in the comedy film Baggage Claim alongside Paula Patton. He also voiced Drago Bludvist in How to Train Your Dragon 2 and portrayed Korath the Pursuer in the Marvel Studios film Guardians of the Galaxy, on February 17,2016, FOX reported that Hounsou would join the second season of the television series Wayward Pines. On February 24,2007, it was announced that Hounsou would be the new Calvin Klein underwear model, at the time, Hounsou was being represented by Los Angeles modeling agent, Omar Albertto

15.
John C. Reilly
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John Christopher Reilly is an American actor, comedian, singer, screenwriter, and producer. He has performed in fifty films, including Boogie Nights, Magnolia, Gangs of New York, Talladega Nights, Step Brothers, Wreck-It Ralph. For his performance in Chicago, Reilly was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor and the corresponding Golden Globe Award. He was later nominated for a Grammy Award and a second Golden Globe Award for Walk Hard, the title song of Walk Hard, The Dewey Cox Story, performed by Reilly in the film. Since 2010, Reilly has been starring in the television series Check It Out. with Dr. Steve Brule, playing a character originated on Tim and Eric Awesome Show. Reilly performs with his band John Reilly and Friends and worked as an actor in True West. Reilly was born in Chicago, Illinois, the fifth of six children and his father was of Irish and Scottish descent, and his mother was of Lithuanian ancestry. His father ran an industrial supply company. Reilly has described himself as being mischievous during his childhood, highlighting an event when he was 12 in which he, Reilly, though he no longer professes Catholicism, was raised Roman Catholic and attended Brother Rice High School. He is an alumnus of DePaul University in Chicago, Reilly made his film debut in the Brian De Palma war film Casualties of War as PFC Herbert Hatcher in 1989. Although his role was written as a one, De Palma liked Reillys performance so much that the role was significantly expanded. He played Buck, Tom Cruises characters NASCAR car chief in Tony Scotts Days of Thunder in 1990 and he continued to appear in several significant supporting roles, including 1992s Hoffa and 1993s Whats Eating Gilbert Grape. The following year, Reilly was cast in the romantic comedy Never Been Kissed, in 2002, he appeared in three of the years Academy Award for Best Picture nominees, Chicago, Gangs of New York and The Hours. For Chicago, he played Amos Hart, Roxannes trusting husband and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, Reilly appeared in Martin Scorseses 2004 Howard Hughes biopic, The Aviator, as Noah Dietrich, Howard Hughes trusted business partner. Of the role Reilly said, “Noah was almost a father figure to Hughes. Howard would have a scheme, and it was Noah who had to say, in 2007, Reilly starred as the title character in parody bio-pic Walk Hard, The Dewey Cox Story, singing various songs, parodying Johnny Cash, Ray Charles and others. The next year, Reilly reunited with Ferrell to star in Step Brothers, in 2008, he was among the many notable actors to perform in the online political musical, Proposition 8 – The Musical. Reilly voiced himself in the The Simpsons episode Any Given Sundance and co-starred alongside Sean William Scott in The Promotion in 2008

16.
Glenn Close
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Glenn Close is an American actress, singer and film producer. With an acting career spanning over 40 years, she has been acclaimed for her versatility and is widely regarded as one of the finest actresses of her generation. She has won three Emmy Awards, three Tony Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, and has received six Academy Award nominations and she would later receive nominations for the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performances in Fatal Attraction, Dangerous Liaisons, and Albert Nobbs. She starred as Eleanor of Aquitaine in the 2003 TV film The Lion in Winter, in 2005, she starred in the drama series The Shield. Then from 2007 to 2012, she starred as Patty Hewes in the FX drama series Damages and she has voiced the character of Mona Simpson in the animated sitcom The Simpsons since 1995. She returned to Broadway in November 2014, in a revival of Edward Albees A Delicate Balance. Her other films include Jagged Edge, Hamlet, Reversal of Fortune,101 Dalmatians, Paradise Road, Air Force One, Cookies Fortune, Heights, Guardians of the Galaxy and The Girl With All The Gifts. Close is a six-time Academy Award nominee, tying the record for being the actress with the most nominations never to have won, as of 2016, Close has more Oscar nominations without a win than any other living actor. In addition, she has been nominated for four Tonys, fourteen Emmys, thirteen Golden Globes and she has also won an Obie award and has been nominated for three Grammy Awards and a BAFTA. Close has received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and has been inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame and she has two sisters, Tina and Jessie, and two brothers, Alexander and Tambu Misoki, whom Closes parents adopted while living in Africa. Close is also a second cousin once-removed of actress Brooke Shields, during her childhood, Close lived with her parents in a stone cottage on her maternal grandfathers estate in Greenwich. Although Close came from an affluent background, she stated that her family not to participate in WASP society. She would also avoid mentioning her birthplace whenever asked because she did not want people to think she was a dilettante who didnt have to work. When she was seven years old, her parents joined a cult group, Close described MRA as a group that dictated every aspect of her life, from the clothes that had to be worn to what they were allowed to say. In an interview Close stated that her desire to become an actress allowed her to break away from the cult, stating and they had their reasons for doing what they did, and I understand them. It had terrible effects on their kids, but that’s the way it is and we all try to survive, right. And I think what actually saved me more than anything was my desire to be an actress and she spent time in Switzerland when studying at St. Georges School in Switzerland. Close traveled for years in the mid-to-late 1960s with an MRA singing group called Up With People

17.
Benicio del Toro
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Benicio Monserrate Rafael del Toro Sánchez is a Puerto Rican actor. He won an Academy Award, BAFTA Award, Golden Globe Award and he has also portrayed the Collector in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Del Toro was born on February 19,1967, in San Germán, Puerto Rico, to Gustavo Adolfo Del Toro Bermúdez and Fausta Genoveva Sánchez Rivera, many of del Toros relatives are involved in Puerto Ricos legal system. He has a brother, Gustavo, who is the Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer at the Wyckoff Heights Medical Center in the Bushwick section of Brooklyn. He had a Catalan paternal great-grandfather and a Basque maternal great-grandmother and he spent most of his infancy in Santurce, a barrio within San Juan. Del Toro, whose childhood nicknames were Skinny Benny and Beno, was raised a Roman Catholic and attended Academia del Perpetuo Socorro, when del Toro was nine years old, his mother died of hepatitis. At age 12, he moved with his father and brother to Mercersburg, Pennsylvania and he spent his adolescence and attended high school there. After graduation, del Toro followed the advice of his father and pursued a degree at the University of California. Del Toro began to surface in small roles during the late 1980s, playing mostly thugs and drug dealers on programs such as Miami Vice. He appeared in Madonnas 1987 music video La Isla Bonita as a background character sitting on a car, Del Toro continued to appear in movies including The Indian Runner, China Moon, Christopher Columbus, The Discovery, Money for Nothing, Fearless and Swimming with Sharks. His career gained momentum in 1995 with his performance in The Usual Suspects. The role won him an Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Male, Del Toro also shared the screen with Robert De Niro in the big budget thriller The Fan, in which he played Juan Primo, a charismatic Puerto Rican baseball star. He subsequently starred opposite Alicia Silverstone in Excess Baggage, which Silverstone produced. For Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, the 1998 film adaptation of Hunter S. Thompsons famous book, he gained more than 40 lbs. to play Dr. Gonzo, Thompsons lawyer and drug-fiend cohort. The surrealistic film, directed by Terry Gilliam, has earned a following over the years. Returning from a hiatus after Fear and Loathing, del Toro gained a mainstream audience in 2000 with a string of performances in four high-profile films. First up was The Way of the Gun, a yarn that reunited him with The Usual Suspects screenwriter Christopher McQuarrie. A few months later, he stood out among an ensemble cast in Steven Soderberghs Traffic

18.
Tyler Bates
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Tyler Bates is a music producer and composer for films, television, and video games. His recent work includes James Gunns Guardians of the Galaxy, which has one of the highest grossing domestic movies of 2014. Bates previously scored Gunns movies Slither and Super, Bates also worked with Gunn on The Belko Experiment due for release in 2016 and has started work on Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.2. Having worked with James Gunn in the past, Bates had an idea on how Gunn wanted things done. This amount of work and effort required a massive undertaking by both Bates and his team, for 4 months, they clocked upwards of 100-hour work weeks to produce this finished product. After all the work, they had a total of 29 different soundtracks giving a total of 64,34 of music. At least half the cues in the movie have more than 500 tracks of audio and this was a result of there being orchestral passages that were doubled or tripled, choirs, overdubs, and other instrumentals. Bates composed the soundtrack for the PlayStation 3 games God of War, Ascension and Army of Two, The 40th Day, in 2014, Bates co-wrote and produced Marilyn Mansons record The Pale Emperor. The album debuted at number 8 on the Billboard 200, while the single Deep Six went on to higher than any other single by Marilyn Manson on Billboards Mainstream Rock Chart. Bates joined the band in 2015 as the lead guitarist for The Hell Not Hallelujah Tour, the albums song Cupid Carries a Gun was used as the opening title music of the TV show Salem, and Bates composed the shows score. He left Marilyn Manson in April 2015 to resume film work, in October 2015, during a Q&A with Marilyn Manson at the Grammy Museum, Manson announced that he and Tyler were working on new music together again. In 2015 Loudwire listed The Mephistopheles Of Los Angeles No.1 best rock track & Rolling Stone included The Pale Emperor in its Top 50 list of the best albums of 2015 and he will return as the lead guitarist during the tour with Slipknot in July 2016. In Bates score to 300, there are numerous cues which plagiarize from Elliot Goldenthals music from Titus, the 300 cue Returns a King is nearly identical to the Titus cue Victorious Titus and the 300 cue Remember Us copied Finale from Titus. Elements of the score also quote music by Hans Zimmer, Gabriel Yared, James Horner, Vangelis, pictures later issued an apology and credited Goldenthal appropiately. reviewgraveard. com

19.
Marvel Studios
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Previously, the studio was a subsidiary of Marvel Entertainment until The Walt Disney Company reorganized the companies in August 2015. X-Men and Spider-Man and other Marvel franchises are licensed out to 20th Century Fox and Sony Pictures, Marvel Studios has released 14 films since 2008 within the Marvel Cinematic Universe, from Iron Man to Doctor Strange. These films all share continuity with other, along with the One-Shots produced by the studio. During what is known as Marvels Timely era, Captain America was licensed out to Republic Pictures for a serial just for the free advertising, in the late 1970s up to the early 1990s, Marvel Entertainment Group sold options to studios to produce films based on Marvel Comics characters. Spider-Man, one of Marvel’s superheroes, was optioned in the late 1970s, from 1986 to 1996, most of Marvel’s major characters had been optioned, including the Fantastic Four, X-Men, Daredevil, Hulk, Silver Surfer, and Iron Man. A Howard the Duck film made it to the screen in 1986, New World Entertainment purchased MEG in November 1986 and moved to produce films based on the Marvel characters. It released The Punisher before MEG was sold to Ronald Perelmans Andrews Group, two other films were produced, Captain America released in the United Kingdom on screens and direct to video in the United States, and The Fantastic Four, not intended for release. Marvels rival DC Comics, on the hand, had success licensing its properties Superman and Batman into successful film franchises. New World was MEGs former parent corporation and later a subsidiary of the Andrews Group. Marvel Productions became New World Animation by 1993 as Marvel would start up Marvel Films including Marvel Films Animation, Marvel Films Animation shared Tom Tataranowicz with New World Animation as head of development and production. New World Animation, Saban, and Marvel Films Animation each produced a Marvel series for television for the 1996–1997 season and it was Marvel Films Animations only production. By the end of 1993, Arad and 20th Century Fox struck a deal to make a film based on the X-Men, New World Animation and Marvel Films Animation were sold along with the rest of New World by Andrews Group to News Corporation/Fox as announced in August 1996. As part of the deal, Marvel licensed the rights to Captain America, Daredevil and Silver Surfer to be on Fox Kids Network, New World Animation continued producing a second season of The Incredible Hulk for UPN. In August 1996, Marvel created Marvel Studios, an incorporation of Marvel Films, due to the sale of New World Communications Group, Marvels fellow Andrews Group subsidiary in film and television stations, to News Corporation/Fox. Toy Biz filed an offering of 7.5 million shares with a price of $20.125 at the time. Toy Biz sought to sell 1 million shares, and Marvel sought to sell 2.5 million shares. Jerry Calabrese, the president of Marvel Entertainment Group, and Avi Arad, head of Marvel Films, Arad said of the goal for control, When you get into business with a big studio, they are developing a hundred or 500 projects, you get totally lost. Were just not going to do it anymore, Marvel Studios arranged a seven-year development deal with 20th Century Fox to cover markets in the United States and internationally

20.
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
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Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures is an American film distributor owned by The Walt Disney Company. The division took on its current name in late 2007, which before that had been Buena Vista Pictures Distribution since 1987, before 1953, Walt Disneys productions were distributed by Columbia Pictures, United Artists and RKO Radio Pictures. The name Buena Vista came from the street in Burbank, California, Buena Vistas first release was the Academy Award–winning live-action feature The Living Desert on November 10,1953 along with Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom, Buena Vistas first animated release. Notable subsequent releases include the film, Yang Kwei Fei, released in US theaters in September 1956, The Missouri Traveler in March 1958. In April 1960, the company dropped Film from its name, in 1961, Disney incorporated Buena Vista International, distributing its first PG rated film, Take Down, in January 1979. The low-budget movie was not produced by the Disney studios and was acquired from an independent studio, in July 1987, Buena Vista changed its name to Buena Vista Pictures Distribution, Inc. Late in the 1980s, Disney purchased a stake in one of Pacific Theatres chain leading to Disneys Buena Vista Theaters and Pacific to renovate the El Capitan Theatre. The Crest was finished first while El Capitan opened with the premiere of The Rocketeer film on June 19,1991, the corporation purchased a 12. 8% share in Cinergi with its initial public offering in 1994. Soon, BVPD signed a 25 picture distribution deal with Cinergi, the Gaumont Film Company and Walt Disney formed Gaumont Buena Vista International, their joint venture French distribution company, in 1993. In August 1996, Disney and Tokuma Shoten Publishing agreed that Disney would distribute internationally Studio Ghibli animated films, in September 1996, following Disneys acquisition of Capital Cities/ABC, Buena Vista Pictures Distribution, Inc. was merged into ABC, Inc. the parent company of that group. In July 1998, Buena Vista Pictures Distribution purchased the Hollywood Masonic Temple building to continue using it as a promotional venue, by 1997, BVPDs share in Cinergi dropped to 5%.4 million and other loans. In 2002, Disney signed a four animated film deal with Vanguard Animation, however, since 2004, BVI and Gaumont dissolved their French distribution joint venture, Gaumont Buena Vista International. Buena Vista International agreed to a deal with MegaStar Joint Venture Company Limited in April 2006 for the Vietnam market. In April 2007, Disney discontinued using the Buena Vista brand in its distribution branding, the distribution deal ended in 2016, after DreamWorks and Disney decided to not renew their agreement in December 2015, with Universal replacing Disney as DreamWorks distributor. By the end of the deal, Disney had distributed 14 of DreamWorks original 30-picture agreement, Disney took complete ownership of the DreamWorks II film library in exchange for loans made to that company. In addition, Disney is the first of three studios that have released at least two billion-dollar films in the same year. Furthermore, Disney is the studio that has achieved this four times, in 2010,2013,2015, and 2016—that latter year of which included four $1 billion releases. Four of the top five highest-grossing animated films have been released by Disney, in addition, four of the top-five opening weekends were Disney releases

21.
Dolby Theatre
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Since its opening on November 9,2001, the theater has hosted the Academy Awards ceremonies, initially held there in March 2002. The theater was designed by David Rockwell of the Rockwell Group, with Theatre Projects Consultants, the result of astute planning and technical design, the auditorium is particularly successful as a venue for televised theatrical performance. Power is also substantial and accessible, the theater has a unique, Rockwell-designed cockpit in the orchestra seating area for camera, sound, and stage management. Currently the columns are set for Best Picture up to 2071, the theater is rented to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for weeks before Oscar night. Having hosted the awards annually since 2002, the theater is best known for this event, during the rest of the year, it hosts numerous live concerts, awards shows, symphony performances, and other events. It has provided the stage for musicals, dance shows, symphony performances, the theater was sponsored, until February 2012, by the Eastman Kodak Company, which paid $75 million for naming rights to the building. In early 2012, Eastman Kodak filed for protection. Then, the name was temporarily changed to The Hollywood and Highland Center. On May 1,2012, it was announced that the venue would be renamed the Dolby Theatre, Dolby updated the sound system first by installing Dolby Atmos. The company plans to continue updating the auditorium with newer technologies as they become available, the show made significant changes to the theater, including adding lifts deep under the original floor. It was announced on November 29,2012 that Iris would close on January 19,2013 after only two seasons, due to lack of profit, after hosting the Academy Awards on February 24,2013, the theater reopened for touring acts and headliners. The theater has hosted the annual AFI Life Achievement Award, the ESPY Awards for excellence in sports performance, in April 2006, it was home to the 33rd Daytime Emmy Awards and hosted the 34th Daytime Emmy Awards on June 15,2007. It also hosted the Miss USA pageant twice, in 2004 and 2007, while the Dolby Theatre has most often hosted public cultural events, such as concerts and other performances, it has also occasionally served private purposes, such as weddings. Live Official Website of the Dolby Theatre

22.
Superhero film
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Most superhero movies are based on superhero comics. Almost immediately after superheroes rose to prominence in comic books, they were adapted into Saturday film serials aimed at children, serials such as Adventures of Captain Marvel, Batman, The Phantom, Captain America, and Superman followed. Another early superhero film was Ōgon Bat, a Japanese film starring Sonny Chiba based on the 1930 Kamishibai superhero Ōgon Bat, other successful entries emerged throughout the 1980s, from Richard Lesters Superman II and Paul Verhoevens Robocop to Tim Burtons Batman. Marvel Comics Captain America did not have a release and Roger Cormans The Fantastic Four was released neither theatrically nor on home video. Alex Proyas The Crow became the first independent comics superhero film that established a franchise, the success of The Crow catalyzed the release of a film version of Spawn, Image Comics leading character. The success of the darker Image Comics characters shifted the direction of comic book movies, Marvel soon released their films to become franchises, Men in Black and Blade. After Marvel bought Malibu Comics, Marvel and Columbia Pictures released the Men in Black film, the film became the first Marvel property to win an Oscar and the then highest-grossing comic book adaptation until the release of Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man in 2002. Blade was also a mix of a traditional action film as well as darker superhero film with the title character having superpowers as well as carrying an arsenal of weaponry. The success of Blade began Marvels film success, and set the stage for further comic film adaptations. The success of the X-Men TV series had made 20th Century Fox license the rights in 1994. After the success of Men in Black in 1997, Columbia Pictures licensed the rights of Spider-Man in 1999. 20th Century Foxs X-Men became a franchise by its surprise hit. Later, one of the largest blockbusters of all time was released with Sam Raimis Spider-Man. One, Krrish 3, several non-action film oriented superhero films were released in the 2000s with varying ranges of success. Brad Birds The Incredibles for Pixar was a critically acclaimed digitally-animated family oriented superhero film, other hybrids include Sky High and Zoom which were fusions of the superhero and family film genres, My Super Ex-Girlfriend a combination of superhero film and a romantic comedy. Some series from the current and previous decades were also re-released, such as Superman II, bryan Singers Superman Returns is unique due to the fact that it is a sequel to the first two Superman films, yet also a reboot to the third and fourth films. The 2010s has generally continued the success of superhero films seen in the previous decade. In 2010, Matthew Vaughns adaption of Kick-Ass was released, followed by Iron Man 2 a month later,2011 releases included The Green Hornet, Green Lantern, and X-Men, First Class. Following references to the Avengers Initiative in the Iron Man films and The Incredible Hulk, Marvel released Thor on May 6,2011, followed by Captain America, the Avengers broke the box office record as the highest-grossing superhero film of all time

23.
Marvel Comics
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Marvel Comics is the common name and primary imprint of Marvel Worldwide Inc. formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, an American publisher of comic books and related media. In 2009, The Walt Disney Company acquired Marvel Entertainment, Marvel Worldwides parent company, Marvel started in 1939 as Timely Publications, and by the early 1950s had generally become known as Atlas Comics. Marvels modern incarnation dates from 1961, the year that the company launched The Fantastic Four and other superhero titles created by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko and many others. Most of Marvels fictional characters operate in a reality known as the Marvel Universe. Martin Goodman founded the later known as Marvel Comics under the name Timely Publications in 1939. Martin Goodman, a magazine publisher who had started with a Western pulp in 1933, was expanding into the emerging—and by then already highly popular—new medium of comic books. The issue was a success, with it and a second printing the following month selling, combined. While its contents came from an outside packager, Funnies, Inc, Timely had its own staff in place by the following year. It, too, proved a hit, with sales of one million. Goodman formed Timely Comics, Inc. beginning with comics cover-dated April 1941 or Spring 1941, Goodman hired his wifes cousin, Stanley Lieber, as a general office assistant in 1939. Lee wrote extensively for Timely, contributing to a number of different titles, Goodmans business strategy involved having his various magazines and comic books published by a number of corporations all operating out of the same office and with the same staff. One of these companies through which Timely Comics was published was named Marvel Comics by at least Marvel Mystery Comics #55. As well, some covers, such as All Surprise Comics #12, were labeled A Marvel Magazine many years before Goodman would formally adopt the name in 1961. The post-war American comic market saw superheroes falling out of fashion and this globe branding united a line put out by the same publisher, staff and freelancers through 59 shell companies, from Animirth Comics to Zenith Publications. Atlas also published a plethora of childrens and teen humor titles, including Dan DeCarlos Homer the Happy Ghost, Atlas unsuccessfully attempted to revive superheroes from late 1953 to mid-1954, with the Human Torch, the Sub-Mariner, and Captain America. Atlas did not achieve any hits and, according to Stan Lee, Atlas survived chiefly because it produced work quickly, cheaply. During this time, the Comic Code Authority made its debut in September 1954, Wertham published the book Seduction of the Innocent in order to force people to see that comics were impacting American youth. He believed violent comics were causing children to be reckless and were turning them into delinquents, in September 1954, comic book publishers got together to set up their own self-censorship organization—the Comics Magazine Association of America—in order to appease audiences

24.
List of Marvel Cinematic Universe films
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The Marvel Cinematic Universe films are an American series of superhero films, based on characters that appear in publications by Marvel Comics. The films have been in production since 2007, and in that time Marvel Studios has produced 14 films, the series has collectively grossed over $10.9 billion at the global box office, making it the highest-grossing film franchise of all-time. Kevin Feige has produced film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Avi Arad served as a producer on the two 2008 releases, and Gale Anne Hurd also produced The Incredible Hulk, amy Pascal is set to produce Spider-Man, Homecoming. The films are written and directed by a variety of individuals and feature large, often ensemble, many of the actors, including Robert Downey Jr. Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Samuel L. Jackson and Scarlett Johansson signed contracts to star in numerous films. The first film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe was Iron Man, Paramount also distributed Iron Man 2, Thor and Captain America, The First Avenger, while Universal Pictures distributed The Incredible Hulk. Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures began distributing the films with the 2012 crossover film The Avengers, Phase Two includes Iron Man 3, Thor, The Dark World, Captain America, The Winter Soldier, Guardians of the Galaxy, Avengers, Age of Ultron, and Ant-Man. Spider-Man, Homecoming 2 is also scheduled for 2019 while three untitled films are scheduled for 2020, Sony Pictures will distribute the Spider-Man films, which they will continue to own, finance, and have final creative control over. Billionaire industrialist Tony Stark builds himself a suit of armor after he is taken captive by a terrorist organization, free from his captors, he decides to upgrade and don his armor as Iron Man in order to hunt down weapons that were sold under the table. In April 2006, Marvel hired Jon Favreau to direct Iron Man, with Arthur Marcum & Matt Holloway, Favreau consolidated both into one script, which was then polished by John August. Robert Downey, Jr. was cast in the role in September 2006, after growing out a goatee. Principal photography began on March 12,2007, with the first few weeks spent on Starks captivity in Afghanistan, which was filmed in Inyo County, California. Production also occurred on the former Hughes Company soundstages in Playa Vista, Los Angeles, California, with filming at Edwards Air Force Base and Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. Iron Man premiered at the Greater Union theater in George Street, Sydney, on April 14,2008, and was released internationally on April 30, the film ends with a post-credits scene featuring Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury, who approaches Stark regarding the Avenger Initiative. Favreau said that he included the scene as a tip of the hat for the fans. a way to sort of tee up The Avengers. Jackson was only on set for a day, with a crew to avoid the news of his cameo leaking. Captain Americas shield is also visible in the background of a scene, it was added by an ILM artist as a joke, and Favreau decided to leave it in the film. After being exposed to radiation that causes him to transform into the monstrous Hulk, scientist Bruce Banner goes on the run and isolates himself from his love

25.
Marvel Cinematic Universe
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The franchise has expanded to include comic books, short films, television series and digital series. The shared universe, much like the original Marvel Universe in comic books, was established by crossing over common plot elements, settings, cast, clark Gregg has appeared the most in the franchise, portraying Phil Coulson, a character original to the MCU. The first film released in the MCU was Iron Man, which began the first phase of films culminating in the crossover film Marvels The Avengers, Phase Two began with Iron Man 3, and concluded with Ant-Man. The films are currently in Phase Three, which began with the release of Captain America, Marvel Television expanded the universe further, first to network television with Marvels Agents of S. H. I. E. L. D. Marvel Television has also produced the digital series Marvels Agents of S. H. I. E. L. D, slingshot, which is a supplement to Agents of S. H. I. E. L. D. Soundtrack albums have been released for all of the films, along many of television series. It has inspired film and television studios with comic book character adaptation rights to attempt to create similar shared universes. By 2005, Marvel Entertainment began planning to produce its own films. Previously, Marvel had co-produced several superhero films with Columbia Pictures, New Line Cinema and others, Marvel made relatively little profit from its licensing deals with other studios and wanted to get more money out of its films while maintaining artistic control of the projects and distribution. Avi Arad, head of Marvels film division, was pleased with Sam Raimis Spider-Man films at Sony, as a result, they decided to form Marvel Studios, Hollywoods first major independent movie studio since DreamWorks. Feige, a self-professed fanboy, envisioned creating a shared universe just as creators Stan Lee, to raise capital, the studio secured funding from a seven-year, $525 million revolving credit facility with Merrill Lynch. Marvels plan was to release films for their main characters. Arad, who doubted the strategy yet insisted that it was his reputation that helped secure the initial financing, in 2007, at 33 years old, Feige was named studio chief. Feige initially referred to the narrative continuity of these films as the Marvel Cinema Universe. Marvel has designated the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Earth-199999 within the continuity of the companys multiverse, while not always the case, as evident by the 2013 releases of Iron Man 3 and Thor, The Dark World, he said it is certainly something to aim for. Feige expanded on this in July 2014, saying, I dont know that well keep to every year, wed rather find a way to keep that going. After the titles were revealed in October 2014, Feige said, which made us comfortable for the first time. To increase to three films a year instead of just two, without changing our methods, just like comic readers have been doing for decades and decades

26.
Star-Lord
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Star-Lord is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Steve Englehart and Steve Gan, the character first appeared in Marvel Preview #4, the son of a human named Meredith Quill and the Spartoi Json, Quill assumes the mantle of Star-Lord, an interplanetary policeman. He has been featured in a variety of associated Marvel merchandise, including animated series, toys. Chris Pratt portrays the character in the 2014 live-action film Guardians of the Galaxy, the character first appeared in the black-and-white magazine publication Marvel Preview #4. Creator Steve Englehart had plans for the character that went unrealized and he later reflected on his website, I I conceived something very large. My hero would go from being an unpleasant, introverted jerk to the most cosmic being in the universe, and I would tie it into my then-new interest in astrology. But – after his earthbound beginning, where I established him as an unpleasant, introverted jerk, I left Marvel, Star-Lord continued to appear in Marvel Preview, with writer Chris Claremont revamping the character and using science fiction adventure stories like the Heinlein juveniles for inspiration. Heinlein, leading to the issue being pulled and reprinted, the story in #11 was the first teaming of the celebrated X-Men creative trio of writer Chris Claremont, penciller John Byrne, and inker Terry Austin. Star-Lord made sporadic appearances over the few years in the titles Marvel Super Special, Marvel Spotlight. In February 1982, a reprint of the black-and-white Starlord story from Marvel Preview #11 was published with a new framing sequence by Claremont. The character returned in Thanos #8–12 and Annihilation #1-6, the following year, he received a four issue eponymous title leading into the Annihilation, Conquest crossover storyline, in which he played a central role. Plot lines from that series were concluded in the The Thanos Imperative mini-series, after Star-Lords introduction to Earth-616 in 2004, the appearances of classic Star-Lord have been officially designated as occurring in Earth-791 due to continuity issues. Star-Lord returned, along other members of the Guardians, in Avengers Assemble #4-8. He stars in Guardians of the Galaxy vol,3, a part of the Marvel NOW. relaunch. In July 2014, Star-Lord received his own ongoing series, Legendary Star-Lord, Star-Lord appeared as a main character in the core series, and received a tie-in miniseries during the event, Star-Lord and Kitty Pryde. He will also leave the Guardians of the Galaxy, being replaced by his fiancée Kitty Pryde who took over the identity of Star-Lord on the teams roster, a new Star-Lord ongoing series will begin in December of 2016. When Jsons ship crash lands on Earth, he is taken in by Meredith Quill, the two form a relationship while Json makes repairs to his ship. Eventually, Json is forced to leave to return home and fight in a war and he leaves, not knowing Meredith is pregnant with Peter Quill

27.
San Diego Comic-Con International
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San Diego Comic-Con International is a multi-genre entertainment and comic convention held annually in San Diego, California. The name, as given on its website, is Comic-Con International, San Diego and it is a four-day event held during the summer at the San Diego Convention Center in San Diego. On the Wednesday evening prior to the opening of the event, there is a preview for professionals, exhibitors. Comic-Con International also produces two other conventions, WonderCon, held in Los Angeles, and the Alternative Press Expo and it is also the home of the Will Eisner Awards. In 2010, it filled the San Diego Convention Center to capacity with more than 130,000 attendees, the convention was founded in 1970 by Shel Dorf, Richard Alf, Ken Krueger, Mike Towry, Barry Alfonso, Bob Sourk, and Greg Bear. Detroit, Michigan-born, comics fan Shel Dorf, had, in the mid-1960s, mounted the Detroit Triple-Fan Fairs, one of the first commercial comics-fan conventions. When he moved to San Diego, California, in 1970, he organized a convention on March 21,1970. Dorf went on to be associated with the convention as president or manager, variously, Alf co-chaired the first convention with Krueger and became chairman in 1971. Following the initial gathering, Dorfs first three-day San Diego comics convention, other locations in the conventions early years included the El Cortez Hotel, the University of California, San Diego, and Golden Hall, before being moved to the San Diego Convention Center in 1991. I was quietly walking the floor stunned and in awe of just how much bigger it really was, the convention is organized by a panel of 13 board members,16 to 20 full-time and part-time workers, and 80 volunteers who assist via committees. Comic Con International is an organization, and proceeds of the event go to funding it, as well as the Alternative Press Expo. The convention logo was designed by Richard Bruning and Josh Beatman in 1995, in September 2010, the convention announced that it would stay in San Diego through 2015. In 2015, working with Lionsgate, a channel was created to host Comic-Con related content. According to the San Diego Convention and Visitors Bureau, the convention has a regional economic impact of $162.8 million. Along with panels, seminars, and workshops with comic book professionals, there are previews of upcoming feature films, like most comic-book conventions, Comic-Con features a large floorspace for exhibitors. These include media companies such as studios and TV networks, as well as comic-book dealers. And like most comics conventions, Comic-Con includes an area, as well as the Artists Alley where comics artists can sign autographs. Despite the name, artists alleys can include writers and even models, academics and comic industry professionals annually hold the Comics Arts Conference at Comic-Con, presenting scholarly studies on comics as a medium

28.
Principal photography
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Principal photography is the phase of film production in which the movie is filmed, with actors on set and cameras rolling, as distinct from pre-production and post-production. Its start generally marks a point of no return for the financiers, feature films usually have insurance in place by the time principal photography begins. The death of a star before completing all planned takes. For example, sets are notoriously flammable, and most older studios feature water towers for that reason, furthermore, professional-quality movie cameras are normally rented as needed, and most camera houses will not allow rentals of their equipment without proof of insurance. Once a film concludes principal photography, it is said to have wrapped, in these circumstances, additional material may have to be shot. If the material has already been shot once, or is substantial, the process is referred to as a re-shoot, learning materials related to Filmmaking at Wikiversity Media related to Filmmaking at Wikimedia Commons

29.
Shepperton Studios
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Shepperton Studios is a film studio located in Shepperton, Surrey, England with a history dating back to 1931. It is now part of the Pinewood Studios Group, during its early existence the studio was branded as Sound City. Before Shepperton Studios was built, there was Littleton Park, which was built in the 17th century by local nobleman Thomas Wood, the old mansion still stands on the site. Scottish businessman Norman Loudon purchased Littleton Park in 1931 for use by his new company, Sound Film Producing & Recording Studios. The studios, which produced short and feature films, quickly became successful and expanded rapidly. The Ministry of Aircraft Production also took part of the studios for the production of Vickers Wellington bomber components early in the war. After re-opening in 1945, the studios changed hands, when Sir Alexander Korda purchased British Lion Films, he also acquired a controlling interest in Sound City and Shepperton Studios. In January 1955, a new company, British Lion Films Ltd, was formed and Roy and their comedies, such as Im All Right Jack, were produced there, as were dramas from other film-makers such as J. Lee Thompsons The Guns of Navarone. The studios other projects from the decade include Stanley Kubricks Dr Strangelove. Which won the Sound Departments Academy Award, despite the financial ups and downs of British Lion and the changing of hands, the studios remained active until the early 1970s. In 1969, the studios produced 27 films, by 1971 this number had fallen to seven, Production throughout the 1970s was erratic, reaching a low of two films by 1979. A compromise was proposed, and in 1973 the area of the studios was reduced from 60 acres to 20 acres. The studios 1970s credits include Kubricks A Clockwork Orange and Jimmy Perry and David Crofts Dads Army, Richard Attenboroughs Young Winston, in 1978, rock band The Who filmed live concert scenes at Shepperton especially for their documentary The Kids Are Alright. In 1995, the studios were purchased by a consortium headed by Ridley and Tony Scott, which led to an extensive renovation of the studios as well as the expansion and improvement of its grounds. Shepperton Studios has 15 stages, ranging in size from 3,000 square feet to 30,000 square feet, five of which are equipped with interior tanks for water and underwater filming. The childrens TV series Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends was shot on the T Stage from 1984 to 2008, the nearby Little House and surrounding grounds have been used as a filming location for films such as The Omen and The Young Victoria. The studios also have two large backlots, which have recently used to create two castle compounds for the film 47 Ronin. Many films have used Shepperton Studios, including, Thomas & Friends TUGS Red Dwarf Rebecca Dancing on Ice The Crystal Maze Russell Howards Good News You Bet, official history Shepperton Studios Biography Shepperton Studios The Pinewood Studios Group

30.
3D film
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A three-dimensional stereoscopic film is a motion picture that enhances the illusion of depth perception, hence adding a third dimension. The most common approach to the production of 3D films is derived from stereoscopic photography, 3D films are not limited to theatrical releases, television broadcasts and direct-to-video films have also incorporated similar methods, especially since the advent of 3D television and Blu-ray 3D. 3D films became more and more throughout the 2000s, culminating in the unprecedented success of 3D presentations of Avatar in December 2009. The stereoscopic era of motion pictures began in the late 1890s when British film pioneer William Friese-Greene filed a patent for a 3D film process, in his patent, two films were projected side by side on screen. The viewer looked through a stereoscope to converge the two images, because of the obtrusive mechanics behind this method, theatrical use was not practical. Frederic Eugene Ives patented his stereo camera rig in 1900, the camera had two lenses coupled together 1¾ inches apart. On June 10,1915, Edwin S. Porter and William E. Waddell presented tests to an audience at the Astor Theater in New York City. However, according to Adolph Zukor in his 1953 autobiography The Public Is Never Wrong, My 50 Years in the Motion Picture Industry, nothing was produced in this process after these tests. The earliest confirmed 3D film shown to an audience was The Power of Love. The camera rig was a product of the producer, Harry K. Fairall. Whether Fairall used colored filters on the ports or whether he used tinted prints is unknown. After a preview for exhibitors and press in New York City, the film dropped out of sight, apparently not booked by exhibitors, and is now considered lost. Kelley then struck a deal with Samuel Roxy Rothafel to premiere the first in his series of Plasticon shorts entitled Movies of the Future at the Rivoli Theater in New York City. Also in December 1922, Laurens Hammond premiered his Teleview system, Teleview was the first alternating-frame 3D system seen by the public. Using left-eye and right-eye prints and two interlocked projectors, left and right frames were alternately projected, each pair being shown three times to suppress flicker. Viewing devices attached to the armrests of the seats had rotary shutters that operated synchronously with the projector shutters, producing a clean. The show ran for weeks, apparently doing good business as a novelty. In 1922, Frederic Eugene Ives and Jacob Leventhal began releasing their first stereoscopic shorts made over a three-year period, the first film, entitled Plastigrams, was distributed nationally by Educational Pictures in the red-and-blue anaglyph format

31.
IMAX 3D
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IMAX is a motion picture film format and a set of cinema projection standards developed in Canada by Graeme Ferguson, Roman Kroitor, Robert Kerr, and William C. IMAX has the capacity to record and display images of far greater size, since 2002, some feature films have been converted into IMAX format for displaying in IMAX theatres and some have also been partially shot in IMAX. IMAX is the most widely used system for special-venue film presentations, as of June 2016, there were 1,102 IMAX theatres in 69 countries. The desire to increase the impact of film has a long history. In 1929, Fox introduced Fox Grandeur, the first 70 mm film format, in the 1950s, the potential of 35 mm film to provide wider projected images was explored in the processes of CinemaScope and VistaVision, following multi-projector systems such as Cinerama. While impressive, Cinerama was difficult to install, during Expo 67 in Montreal, the National Film Board of Canadas In the Labyrinth and Fergusons Man and the Polar Regions both used multi-projector, multi-screen systems. Each encountered technical difficulties led them to found a company called Multiscreen. As it became clear that a single, large-screen image had more impact than multiple smaller ones and was a viable product direction. An IMAX 3D theatre also is in operation near the former Expo 67 site at the Montreal Science Centre in the Port of Old Montreal, tiger Child, the first IMAX film, was demonstrated at Expo 70 in Osaka, Japan. The first permanent IMAX installation was built at the Cinesphere theatre at Ontario Place in Toronto and it debuted in May 1971, showing the film North of Superior. The installation is still in place, however, Ontario Place is on hiatus for redevelopment, during Expo 74 in Spokane, Washington, an IMAX screen that measured 27 m ×20 m was featured in the US Pavilion. It became the first IMAX Theatre to not be partnered with any brand of movie theaters. About five million visitors viewed the screen, which covered the total visual field when looking directly forward. This created a sensation of motion in most viewers, and motion sickness in some, much to the dismay of the majority of Spokane and the disapproval of the IMAX Corporation itself, it will be demolished because of its inability to project films digitally. An IMAX 3D & Digital theater was built in Spokane. However, its screen-size is less than half that of the original, due to protests, the IMAX Corporation has been able to remodel the area with the city, and turn the U. S. Pavilion itself into the first permanent outdoor IMAX screen, the first permanent IMAX Dome installation, the Eugene Heikoff and Marilyn Jacobs Heikoff Dome Theatre at the Reuben H. Fleet Science Center, opened in San Diegos Balboa Park in 1973, the first permanent IMAX 3D theatre was built in Vancouver, British Columbia for Transitions at Expo 86, and was in use until September 30,2009

32.
87th Academy Awards
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During the ceremony, AMPAS presented Academy Awards in 24 categories. The ceremony was televised in the United States by ABC, and produced by Neil Meron and Craig Zadan, actor Neil Patrick Harris hosted the ceremony for the first time. In related events, the Academy held its 6th Annual Governors Awards ceremony at the Grand Ballroom of the Hollywood and Highland Center on November 8,2014. On February 7,2015, in a ceremony at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills, California, Birdman or, and The Grand Budapest Hotel each won four awards, with the former film earning the Best Picture honor. The telecast garnered more than 37 million viewers in the United States, the nominees for the 87th Academy Awards were announced on January 15,2015, at 5,30 a. m. PST, at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills, California, by directors J. J. Abrams and Alfonso Cuarón, Academy president Cheryl Boone Isaacs, for the first time, nominations for all 24 competitive categories were announced. Birdman or and The Grand Budapest Hotel tied for the most nominations with nine each, the winners were announced during the awards ceremony on February 22,2015. For the first time since the expansion of the Best Picture nominee roster at the 82nd ceremony in 2010, Birdman was the first film to win Best Picture without an editing nomination since Ordinary People. Alejandro G. Iñárritu became the second consecutive Mexican to win for Best Directing after Cuarón who won for helming Gravity, at age 84, Robert Duvall was the oldest male acting nominee in Oscar history. Having won for his work on Gravity the year before, Emmanuel Lubezki became the person to win two consecutive Best Cinematography awards. John Toll was the last one who accomplished this feat for his work on 1994s Legends of the Fall, winners are listed first, highlighted in boldface, and indicated with a double dagger. Hayao Miyazaki — A master storyteller whose animated artistry has inspired filmmakers, maureen OHara — One of Hollywood’s brightest stars, whose inspiring performances glowed with passion, warmth and strength. Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award Harry Belafonte — For a lifetime of demonstrating how art is ennobled by ceaseless courage, the following individuals, listed in order of appearance, presented awards or performed musical numbers. Meron and Zadan explained their decision to hire the television and theatre star saying and we have known him his entire adult life, and we have watched him explode as a great performer in feature films, television and stage. To work with him on the Oscars is the storm, all of his resources. To be asked to follow in the footsteps of Johnny Carson, Billy Crystal, Ellen DeGeneres, and everyone else who had the great fortune of hosting is a bucket list dream come true. Nevertheless, both Meron and Zadan denied such allegations and insisted that Harris was their only choice saying, many names are discussed and sometimes even floated without there being any formal offers. At times, these casual discussions take on a life of their own, Neil Patrick Harris received the Academy’s formal offer

33.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
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It is intended to be the sequel to 2014s Guardians of the Galaxy and the fifteenth film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.2, the Guardians travel throughout the cosmos as they help Peter Quill learn more about his true parentage, the film began principal photography in February 2016 at Pinewood Atlanta Studios in Fayette County, Georgia, and concluded in June 2016. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.2 is scheduled to have its premiere in Hollywood on April 19,2017, describing where Quill is at the start of the film, Pratt said, hes famous now in the galaxy for having saved so many people. He feels like hes part of group, a leader of this group. Hes a little more responsible and trying to out of trouble. Pratt stated that working on the film forced him to come to terms with the death of his father, Pratt returns as part of a multi-film contract with Marvel. Zoe Saldana as Gamora, A member of the Guardians who is an orphan from a world who seeks redemption for her past crimes. She was trained by Thanos to be his personal assassin, regarding Gamoras relationship with Nebula, Saldana described it as volatile and added, were starting somewhere very crazy but appropriate given where we had ended things off in the first film. Dave Bautista as Drax the Destroyer, A member of the Guardians and he also added that the Guardians become more of a solid family in the film, with Drax getting closer and more caring with the other Guardians. Bautistas makeup took only 90 minutes to apply, down four hours for the first film. He added that he would have to sit in a sauna at the end of the day to get the makeup off, Vin Diesel as Baby Groot, A member of the Guardians who is a tree-like humanoid and the accomplice of Rocket. Diesel also provided Groots voice for sixteen foreign-language releases of the film, as Groot is smaller in the film than in the first and known as Baby Groot, executive producer Jonathan Schwartz said, He doesnt have the wisdom and experience of that Groot. Hes a younger Groot and a more rambunctious Groot, Schwartz also stated the film would examine if he was the same Groot, just smaller. Or is he a different Groot thats sprung up from the seed of the first Groot, Diesel added that Baby Groot couldnt be more naive and felt the Groot seen in the first film was a college level Groot. Hes not fully grown yet, but hes a man, now he has to start all over, so to speak. So were going to see this goofy, adorable, baby Groot thing running around the screen, just kinda learning as he goes. Regarding Groots previous memories, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige added, hes not mentally a baby, he is still Groot. I sort of equate it to Spock circa the end of, however James Gunn later clarified that Baby Groot does not have any of his previous memories

34.
Yondu
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Yondu Udonta, or simply Yondu, is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. A second Yondu was introduced later on a present day Earth-616, Yondu joined Vance Astro and a number of survivors of the Badoon attack on earths solar system in the 31st Century to become known as the Guardians of the Galaxy. As part of the Guardians Yondu traveled to present day earth, the original Yondu never starred as a solo character in any Marvel Comic books but was a core member of the team in the Guardians of the Galaxy comic book that ran from 1990 to 1995. He will also appear in the films 2017 sequel, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.2, the present day Yondu character has appeared both in the Guardians of the Galaxy animated show as well as being a playable character in Disney Infinity, Marvel Super Heroes. The Earth-691 version of Yondu first appeared in Marvel Super-Heroes #18, Yondu appeared along with the rest of the original Guardians of the Galaxy team in the 2014 series Guardians 3000. Writer Dan Abnett described him as the instinct of the team, the Earth-616 version of Yondu first appeared in Star-Lord #2 and was created by Sam Humphries and Javier Garron. Yondu Udonta is a member of the Zatoan tribe, primitive beings native to Centauri IV and his homeworld was the first planet to be colonized by humans that was outside Earths solar system. Yondu is born in the thirtieth century. Yondus people had fled from contact with overwhelming earth colonizers who had begun arriving in 2940 A. D, in 3006 A. D. Vance Astro, an astronaut from Earth, lands on Yondus planet with an antiquated propulsion ship. Despite realizing his mission was pointless, he performs the recon anyway, Vance encounters Yondu during the latters trial of manhood. Yondu attacks him, but is repelled by Vances powers, Vance keeps this secret as Yondus action was illegal. Yondu works with Vance when the Badoon, an alien race, all the other Centaurians are believed to have been slaughtered. Vance and Yondu escape in his ship to help but the Badoon capture them easily. The duo are taken to Earth which, by 3007 A. D. has also been conquered, when questioned, Vance pretends to be unfriendly with Yondu, calling him a stupid creature. They team up with Charlie-27 of the Jupiter colony and Martinex of the Pluto colony when they out of a telepod. For the next seven years, the four survivors attacked the Badoons outposts in the solar system, in 3014 A. D. the Guardians teamed with the time-traveling Thing, Captain America, and Sharon Carter to retake New York City from the Badoon forces. In 3015 A. D. the Guardians time-traveled to the 20th Century and they returned to 3015 A. D. with the Defenders and later met Starhawk. After humanity defeated the Brotherhood of Badoon occupiers, the Sisterhood of Badoon arrived and removed the males from Earth, Yondu and the Guardians later teamed with the time-traveling Thor, and battled Korvac and his Minions of Menace

35.
Korath the Pursuer
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Korath the Pursuer is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Korath first appeared in Quasar #32, and was created by Mark Gruenwald and it was revealed that he, Korath-Thak, was the lead designer of the project that created the Pursuer, which first appeared in Inhumans #11, although Korath himself did not appear in that issue. Korath-Thak is an agent of the Kree Empire and he was a cyber-geneticist, and the founder and head of the Pursuer Project to develop cybernetic warriors for the Kree militia. He has also been a manufacturing plant foreman, and a special operative of the Supreme Intelligence. Korath used cyber-genetic technology of his own design to gain superhuman powers during the Kree/Shiar War and he then met Shatterax, Ultimus, and Supremor. At the behest of Supremor, he attacked the Avengers force on Hala, alongside the Kree Starforce, he again battled the Avengers on Hala. He witnessed the assassination of Ael-Dan and Dar-Benn by Deathbird and the return to power of the Supreme Intelligence, alongside the Kree Starforce, he was held captive in a Shiar stasis ray. He witnessed a battle between an Avengers force, and was defeated by the Scarlet Witch and Astra, alongside the Kree Starforce, he arrived in the Shiar Empire to assassinate Lilandra. He battled another contingent of Avengers and the Shiar Imperial Guard and he returned to Hala alongside Lilandra, Starforce, and the Imperial Guard after the detonation of the nega-bomb to help the Kree rebuild under Shiar rule. Alongside the Shiar Starforce and Deathbird, Korath attacked Quasar, Her, admiral Galen-Kor and his criminal forces battled Deathbird and Starforce. Korath and Starforce alongside the Underground Legion, battled Lord Tantalus, Korath wound up settling on the planet of Godthab Omega. Korath was reunited with Ronan when he came to the planet in search of Tana Nile, Korath was apparently assimilated into The Phalanx and became one of their Select. He fought Quasar, Moondragon, and Adam Warlock and was killed by Ultron when he failed to capture Adam Warlock, Korath is a member of the alien Kree race, who was augmented by an unknown experimental cyber-genetic engineering process. He has superhuman strength, stamina, and durability and he also has the ability to psionically locate individuals by tracing their brain patterns. Like other Kree, Korath is unable to breathe in Earths atmosphere without a special apparatus or breathing serum, Korath is an expert in cyber-genetic engineering. He is trained in the skills of the ancient Kree. Korath wears an armored battle-suit and helmet composed of alien materials. He wields two 1½ foot beta-batons which generate electrical force capable of stunning opponents into unconsciousness on contact or disrupting functions of electrical devices, by adjusting the batons, Korath can stun beings as powerful as Eternals or even intangible beings

36.
Kree
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The Kree, briefly known as the Ruul, are a fictional scientifically and technologically advanced militaristic alien race appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. They are native to the planet Hala in the Large Magellanic Cloud, the Kree race resembles humans in appearance except for the fact that a portion of the Kree race have blue skin. In the Kree race there is a distinction between the blue-skinned purebred Krees and their members, with the blue-skinned Kree being a small. These experiments led to the creation of the Inhumans on earth, the war was ended through the machinations of the Kree Supreme Intelligence and Rick Jones although skirmishes between the two empires continued. At a later date the Kree became embroiled in a war with the Shiar empire, the war ended with the detonation of the Nega Bomb that forced the Kree to surrender. It was later revealed that the Nega bomb was engineered by the Kree Supreme Intelligence to attempt to restart their genetic evolution. At a later date Black Bolt led the Inhumans into Kree space and became the King of the Kree empire, later on the Supreme Intelligence and Ronan the Accuser are shown as the leaders of the Kree Empire. They were also represented by Kree hybrids such as Carol Danvers, Genis-Vell, Phyla-Vell, Hulkling, the first on-panel appearance of the Kree was in Fantastic Four #65, and they were created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. True Kree resemble humans almost exactly, with the exception of blue skin, Kree have a higher strength level than that of a human, and require more nitrogen to breathe comfortably. Kree bodies are adapted to environmental characteristics on Hala that are unlike Earth, Hala has higher gravity and a higher concentration of nitrogen in the atmosphere than Earth. Under Earths lesser gravity, their strength and speed increase, however, they cannot breathe in Earths atmosphere without using a chemical, breathing formula, or artificial life-support devices. The original Kree had blue-colored skin, but a racial group with pink skin resembling that of human Caucasians emerged over the millennia. The blue-skinned purebred Kree have become a small, but powerful, pink Kree are much more durable than their blue racial brethren. Adult Kree range from between 5 to 8 feet tall, some female Kree can physically influence men, and a few can even drain the life force of others. The Kree were an evolutionarily stagnant race and this was due to a single member of the Kree race attempting to gain control of The Crystal of Ultimate Vision. This unnamed Kree found the crystal, but attempted to use it to become akin to a god, as punishment, the crystal genetically froze their evolution in place allowing the rest of creation to pass them by. In an attempt to further their development, some Kree bred with other species, producing the pink-skinned Kree and these pinks eventually outnumbered the blue-skin Kree. The Kree value what they consider to be their genetic purity, in the Kree empire, it is a crime for a male non-Kree to impregnate any Kree

37.
Ronan the Accuser
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Ronan the Accuser is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He is an officer of the fictional alien race known as the Kree. Though usually portrayed as a supervillain, he is depicted as a more noble and honorable character. Ronan has appeared in forms of media, including several animated television series. Most notably, actor Lee Pace played the character in the 2014 Marvel Cinematic Universe film Guardians of the Galaxy, Ronan was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in 1967. He first appeared in Fantastic Four vol.1 #65, the character returned sporadically in Captain Marvel vol. 1, and played an important role in the Kree-Skrull War storyline in Avengers vol.1 #88-97, after appearances in Ms. Marvel vol.1 #19 and Silver Surfer vol. 3, Ronan returned in the Galactic Storm crossover in 1992, Ronan subsequently appeared in Fantastic Four vol.3 #13-14 and Iron Man vol.3 #14, before having a major role in the Maximum Security crossover in Jan 2001. During the 2006 Annihilation storyline, Ronan received an eponymous miniseries written by Simon Furman. He appeared in the sequels, Annihilation Conquest #1-6 and Annihilation Conquest, after being seen during the Secret Invasion, War of Kings one-shot, the character was used in War of Kings #1-6 and Realm of Kings, Inhumans #1-4. Following appearances in The Thanos Imperative #1-6, Ronan joined the team in Annihilators #1-4 and Annihilators. Ronan was born on the planet Hala, the capital of the Kree Empire in the Greater Magellanic Cloud, the Supreme Intelligence ultimately appointed him Supreme Accuser of the Kree Empire. On his first mission, Ronan is sent to Earth to investigate the destruction of a robotic Kree Sentry at the hands of the Fantastic Four, the team defeats Ronan, which prompts a Kree expedition to spy on and assess Earth. Captain Mar-Vell is a member of the team, and he interacts with Ronan frequently during his mission, Ronan secretly plans with Zarek to overthrow the Kree leader, the Supreme Intelligence, believing the Empire should not be ruled by a non-humanoid entity. But Ronan is paralyzed by the powers of Rick Jones. Ronan is subsequently mentally dominated by the Supreme Intelligence, and battles Mar-Vell on multiple occasions, Ronan later regains his sanity and returns to his former position as Supreme Accuser. During the second Kree-Skrull war, Ronan executes a Skrull duplicate of the Silver Surfer, during the Kree-Shiar War, Ronan joins Starforce. When Earth becomes a planet, Ronan serves as its warden

38.
Gamora
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Gamora is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Jim Starlin, the character first appeared in Strange Tales #180, Gamora is the adopted daughter of Thanos, and the last of her species. Her powers include superhuman strength and agility and a healing factor. She also is a combatant, being able to best most of the opponents in the galaxy. She has appeared as the love interest of the superheroes Adam Warlock and Nova. The character played a role in the 2007 crossover comic book event Annihilation, Conquest and she has been featured in a variety of associated Marvel merchandise. Zoe Saldana plays the character in the 2014 live-action film Guardians of the Galaxy, the character debuted in Strange Tales #180, and was created by Jim Starlin. She returned in issue #181, Warlock vol.1 #9-15, in 1990, she returned in Silver Surfer vol.3 #46-47. She had a role in Infinity Gauntlet #1-6 and co-starred in Warlock. She was also featured in the Infinity War and Infinity Crusade crossovers, after appearing in Infinity Abyss #1-6, Annihilation, Ronan #1-4, Annihilation #1-6 and Nova vol.4 #4-12, Gamora costarred in Guardians of the Galaxy vol.2 #1-25. She played a role in The Thanos Imperative #1-6. The character, along with the other Guardians, appears in Avengers Assemble issues #4-8 and she stars in Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 3, a part of the Marvel NOW. relaunch, Gamora is the last of her species, the Zen-Whoberis, who were exterminated by the Badoon. Thanos found the child and decided to use her as a weapon, Gamora was raised and trained by Thanos to assassinate the Magus, an evil alternate version of Adam Warlock. Thanos showed her kindness during her childhood, but Gamora was very loyal to the man who promised her the opportunity to avenge the death of her family. Gamora became very proficient in martial arts, earning the nickname The deadliest woman in the whole galaxy, when she was a teenager, Thanos took her on a trip to Tartoonla #7. Gamora disobeyed Thanoss orders, and due to this came into conflict with a group of thugs and she was greatly outnumbered, and despite her skills she was defeated and then raped by the assailants. Thanos found her dead, and in turn murdered all of her assailants and restored her to health

Guardians of the Galaxy (1969 team)
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The original Guardians of the Galaxy are a fictional superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The Guardians first appear in Marvel Super-Heroes #18, the team first appeared in the partial reprint title Marvel Super-Heroes with issue #18, written by Arnold Drake and penciled by Gene Colan. They appeared sporadical

1.
The Guardians of the Galaxy as featured in Guardians of the Galaxy #1 (June 1990). Art by Jim Valentino

Kevin Feige
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Kevin Feige, p. g. a. is an American film producer and president of Marvel Studios. The films he has produced have a worldwide box office gross of $10 billion. Feige spent his teen years in New Jersey and his grandfather had been a television producer in the 1950s, having worked on soap operas including The Guiding Light and As the World Turns. Aft

1.
Feige at the Guardians of the Galaxy premiere in July 2014

Guardians of the Galaxy (2008 team)
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The Guardians of the Galaxy are a fictional spacefaring superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. These Guardians first appeared in Annihilation, Conquest #6, a feature film based on this team was released in 2014. A sequel, titled Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.2, is scheduled to be released in 2017 and this Guardia

2.
The Guardians of the Galaxy from the 2014 film (L-R: Saldana as Gamora, Pratt as Quill, Rocket Raccoon (voiced by Cooper), Bautista as Drax, and Groot (voiced by Diesel)).

Dan Abnett
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Dan Abnett is a British comic book writer and novelist. He has been a frequent collaborator with fellow writer Andy Lanning, in 2009 he released his first original fiction novels through Angry Robot books. Abnett read English and matriculated at St Edmund Hall, Oxford in 1984 and he attended some subjects with Stewart Lee. As one of the more prolif

1.
Abnett at the Midtown Comics booth at the New York Comic Con in Manhattan, 10 October 2010.

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Abnett and frequent collaborator Andy Lanning at the Midtown Comics booth at the New York Comic Con, 10 October 2010.

Andy Lanning
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Andy Lanning is a British comic book writer and inker, known for his work for Marvel Comics and DC Comics, and for his collaboration with Dan Abnett. Lanning works primarily at Marvel Comics and DC Comics as an inker and he has also pencilled books, such as his creation The Sleeze Brothers. Lannings writing has included his and Abnetts 2000 relaunc

1.
Lanning at the New York Comic Con in Manhattan, 10 October 2010.

Chris Pratt
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Christopher Michael Chris Pratt is an American actor. Pratt came to prominence from his roles, including Bright Abbott in The WB drama series Everwood and Andy Dwyer in the NBC sitcom Parks. His early film career began with supporting roles in mainstream films as Wanted, Jennifers Body, Moneyball, The Five-Year Engagement, Zero Dark Thirty, Deliver

1.
Pratt at the premiere of Guardians of the Galaxy in July 2014

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Pratt at the premiere of Parks and Recreation in April, 2009

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Pratt at the San Diego Comic Con International in July 2013

4.
Pratt with Anna Faris at the Toronto International Film Festival in Toronto, 2011

Zoe Saldana
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Zoe Saldana-Perego, known professionally as Zoe Saldana, is an American actress and dancer. Following her performances with the theater group Faces, Saldana made her debut in an episode of Law & Order. Her film career began a year later with Center Stage, where she played a ballet dancer. Saldanas breakthrough came in 2009 with the roles of Nyota U

Dave Bautista
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David Michael Dave Bautista Jr. is an American actor and former professional wrestler, mixed martial artist, and bodybuilder. He holds the record for the longest reign as World Heavyweight Champion at 282 days and he was the winner of the 2005 Royal Rumble match and went on to headline WrestleMania 21, one of the top five highest-grossing pay-per-v

1.
Bautista at the Guardians of the Galaxy premiere in July 2014.

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Batista in September 2005 as the World Heavyweight Champion.

3.
Batista at a SmackDown! live event in Cincinnati, Ohio.

4.
Batista during his second World Heavyweight Championship reign.

Vin Diesel
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Mark Sinclair, better known by his stage name Vin Diesel, is an American actor, producer, director and screenwriter. He is well known for his portrayals of Dominic Toretto in The Fast, Riddick in The Chronicles of Riddick series and Xander Cage in xXx series. He was also a producer on sequels in these franchises, Diesel has also starred in films su

1.
Diesel in July 2013

2.
Diesel at a premiere for Fast & Furious in 2009

3.
Fast Five cast with Natalie Morales for NBC 's Today.

4.
Diesel's main car Dodge Charger from Fast & Furious

Bradley Cooper
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Bradley Charles Cooper is an American actor and producer. He was one of the worlds highest-paid actors for three years, and has been nominated for various accolades, including four Academy Awards, two BAFTA Awards and two Golden Globe Awards. Cooper appeared in Forbes Celebrity 100 on two occasions and Times list of 100 most influential people in t

1.
Cooper at the Paris premiere of American Hustle in February 2014

2.
Cooper at the 2009 Tribeca Film Festival premiere of Woody Allen 's film, Whatever Works in April 2009.

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Cooper, in 2009 during a United Service Organizations tour.

Lee Pace
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Lee Grinner Pace is an American actor. Pace has been featured in film, stage and television and he currently stars as protagonist Joe MacMillan in AMCs Halt and Catch Fire. He also played Roy Walker/the Masked Bandit in the 2006 film The Fall and he has appeared in film series, including The Twilight Saga, Breaking Dawn – Part 2 as Garrett and The

1.
Pace at the Guardians of the Galaxy premiere in July 2014

2.
Pace promoting Guardians of the Galaxy at the 2013 San Diego Comic-Con International

Michael Rooker
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Michael Rooker was born in Jasper, Alabama. He has eight brothers and sisters and his parents divorced when he was 13 years old, and he moved with his mother and siblings to Chicago, Illinois, where he studied at the Goodman School of Drama. Rooker made his debut in 1986, playing the title role in Henry, Portrait of a Serial Killer. He was acting i

1.
Rooker in February 2015

2.
Rooker at the 2013 San Diego Comic Con International

Karen Gillan
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Karen Sheila Gillan is a Scottish actress and former model. She is known for the role of Amelia Pond, companion to the Eleventh Doctor and she took part in the upcoming films Jumanji, The Circle, Avengers, Infinity War and its untitled sequel. In 2017, she directed her first feature film Tupperware Party, Gillan was born and raised in Inverness in

1.
Gillan in July 2014

2.
Gillan with Matt Smith, promoting series 5 of Doctor Who in March 2010

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Gillan at the 2011 San Diego Comic Con International

Djimon Hounsou
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Djimon Gaston Hounsou is a Beninese-American actor and model. Hounsou began his career appearing in music videos and he made his film debut in the Sandra Bernhard film Without You Im Nothing and gained widespread recognition for his role as Cinqué in the Steven Spielberg film Amistad. He gained further recognition for his roles in Gladiator, In Ame

John C. Reilly
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John Christopher Reilly is an American actor, comedian, singer, screenwriter, and producer. He has performed in fifty films, including Boogie Nights, Magnolia, Gangs of New York, Talladega Nights, Step Brothers, Wreck-It Ralph. For his performance in Chicago, Reilly was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor and the corresponding

1.
Reilly at the 2009 Los Angeles Film Festival premiere of Ponyo

2.
Reilly in February 2007

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Reilly at the 2012 Comic-Con International in San Diego

Glenn Close
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Glenn Close is an American actress, singer and film producer. With an acting career spanning over 40 years, she has been acclaimed for her versatility and is widely regarded as one of the finest actresses of her generation. She has won three Emmy Awards, three Tony Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, and has received six Academy Award nominations and

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Glenn Close at the Guardians of the Galaxy premiere in July 2014

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Close in Paris at the Albert Nobbs French premiere in February 2012.

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Glenn Close at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival.

Benicio del Toro
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Benicio Monserrate Rafael del Toro Sánchez is a Puerto Rican actor. He won an Academy Award, BAFTA Award, Golden Globe Award and he has also portrayed the Collector in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Del Toro was born on February 19,1967, in San Germán, Puerto Rico, to Gustavo Adolfo Del Toro Bermúdez and Fausta Genoveva Sánchez Rivera, many of del

1.
Del Toro at the Guardians of the Galaxy premiere in July 2014

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del Toro at the 2013 San Diego Comic Con International

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del Toro at the 2014 Toronto Film Festival

4.
Del Toro as revolutionary Che Guevara in Che (2008)

Tyler Bates
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Tyler Bates is a music producer and composer for films, television, and video games. His recent work includes James Gunns Guardians of the Galaxy, which has one of the highest grossing domestic movies of 2014. Bates previously scored Gunns movies Slither and Super, Bates also worked with Gunn on The Belko Experiment due for release in 2016 and has

1.
Bates at the San Diego Comic-Con in 2014

Marvel Studios
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Previously, the studio was a subsidiary of Marvel Entertainment until The Walt Disney Company reorganized the companies in August 2015. X-Men and Spider-Man and other Marvel franchises are licensed out to 20th Century Fox and Sony Pictures, Marvel Studios has released 14 films since 2008 within the Marvel Cinematic Universe, from Iron Man to Doctor

1.
Marvel Studios, LLC

Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
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Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures is an American film distributor owned by The Walt Disney Company. The division took on its current name in late 2007, which before that had been Buena Vista Pictures Distribution since 1987, before 1953, Walt Disneys productions were distributed by Columbia Pictures, United Artists and RKO Radio Pictures. The nam

Dolby Theatre
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Since its opening on November 9,2001, the theater has hosted the Academy Awards ceremonies, initially held there in March 2002. The theater was designed by David Rockwell of the Rockwell Group, with Theatre Projects Consultants, the result of astute planning and technical design, the auditorium is particularly successful as a venue for televised th

1.
Front facade of the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood

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The Grand Staircase leading up to the Dolby Theatre

3.
Districts and neighborhoods

Superhero film
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Most superhero movies are based on superhero comics. Almost immediately after superheroes rose to prominence in comic books, they were adapted into Saturday film serials aimed at children, serials such as Adventures of Captain Marvel, Batman, The Phantom, Captain America, and Superman followed. Another early superhero film was Ōgon Bat, a Japanese

1.
Actor Christopher Reeve, who played the eponymous character in the 1970s and 1980s Superman films.

2.
Hugh Jackman, who has played Wolverine in seven X-Men films, remains the actor who has appeared as a single superhero the most times in film history.

3.
The cast of The Avengers (2012), the most commercially successful superhero film

Marvel Comics
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Marvel Comics is the common name and primary imprint of Marvel Worldwide Inc. formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, an American publisher of comic books and related media. In 2009, The Walt Disney Company acquired Marvel Entertainment, Marvel Worldwides parent company, Marvel started in 1939 as Timely Publications, and by the ea

List of Marvel Cinematic Universe films
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The Marvel Cinematic Universe films are an American series of superhero films, based on characters that appear in publications by Marvel Comics. The films have been in production since 2007, and in that time Marvel Studios has produced 14 films, the series has collectively grossed over $10.9 billion at the global box office, making it the highest-g

2.
Avi Arad, who helped secure early financing, produced Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk.

3.
Jon Favreau, the director of Iron Man and Iron Man 2, helped tee up the shared universe concept with his inclusion of Samuel L. Jackson in a post-credits scene of the first film.

4.
Kevin Feige has produced every film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Marvel Cinematic Universe
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The franchise has expanded to include comic books, short films, television series and digital series. The shared universe, much like the original Marvel Universe in comic books, was established by crossing over common plot elements, settings, cast, clark Gregg has appeared the most in the franchise, portraying Phil Coulson, a character original to

1.
Kevin Feige was an early visionary for the franchise, realizing a shared media universe could be created with properties Marvel owned.

3.
Joss Whedon was a large contributor to Phase Two, offering creative insight to all the films leading up to Avengers: Age of Ultron, as well as launching the first live-action television series for the universe, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Star-Lord
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Star-Lord is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Steve Englehart and Steve Gan, the character first appeared in Marvel Preview #4, the son of a human named Meredith Quill and the Spartoi Json, Quill assumes the mantle of Star-Lord, an interplanetary policeman. He has been featured in a vari

1.
Chris Pratt as Star-Lord in a character poster for the 2014 film Guardians of the Galaxy.

San Diego Comic-Con International
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San Diego Comic-Con International is a multi-genre entertainment and comic convention held annually in San Diego, California. The name, as given on its website, is Comic-Con International, San Diego and it is a four-day event held during the summer at the San Diego Convention Center in San Diego. On the Wednesday evening prior to the opening of the

1.
Signs outside Hall H

2.
Comic-Con International: San Diego: Creator

3.
Comic Con crowds in 2011 as seen from a helicopter – Panorama.

4.
Comic-Con crowd inside the second floor of the convention center in 2011 awaiting the exhibition hall to open.

Principal photography
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Principal photography is the phase of film production in which the movie is filmed, with actors on set and cameras rolling, as distinct from pre-production and post-production. Its start generally marks a point of no return for the financiers, feature films usually have insurance in place by the time principal photography begins. The death of a sta

1.
Film production on location in Newark, New Jersey.

Shepperton Studios
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Shepperton Studios is a film studio located in Shepperton, Surrey, England with a history dating back to 1931. It is now part of the Pinewood Studios Group, during its early existence the studio was branded as Sound City. Before Shepperton Studios was built, there was Littleton Park, which was built in the 17th century by local nobleman Thomas Wood

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Shepperton Studios

2.
Street Sign at Shepperton Studios

3D film
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A three-dimensional stereoscopic film is a motion picture that enhances the illusion of depth perception, hence adding a third dimension. The most common approach to the production of 3D films is derived from stereoscopic photography, 3D films are not limited to theatrical releases, television broadcasts and direct-to-video films have also incorpor

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Fairall in 1922

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Fairall's 3D camera

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Audience wearing special glasses watch a 3D "stereoscopic film" at the Telekinema on the South Bank in London during the Festival of Britain 1951.

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Shooting of the film Hidden Universe 3D with IMAX camera.

IMAX 3D
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IMAX is a motion picture film format and a set of cinema projection standards developed in Canada by Graeme Ferguson, Roman Kroitor, Robert Kerr, and William C. IMAX has the capacity to record and display images of far greater size, since 2002, some feature films have been converted into IMAX format for displaying in IMAX theatres and some have als

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Audiences view a film using 3D glasses.

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Logo for IMAX used since 1970.

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An IMAX cinema camera, displayed at the National Media Museum, Bradford, U.K.

4.
The 15 kW Xenon short-arc lamp used in IMAX projectors.

87th Academy Awards
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During the ceremony, AMPAS presented Academy Awards in 24 categories. The ceremony was televised in the United States by ABC, and produced by Neil Meron and Craig Zadan, actor Neil Patrick Harris hosted the ceremony for the first time. In related events, the Academy held its 6th Annual Governors Awards ceremony at the Grand Ballroom of the Hollywoo

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Alejandro González Iñárritu, Best Film (co-winner), Best Director and Best Original Screenplay winner

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
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It is intended to be the sequel to 2014s Guardians of the Galaxy and the fifteenth film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.2, the Guardians travel throughout the cosmos as they help Peter Quill learn more about his true parentage, the film began principal photography in February 2016 at Pinewood Atlanta Studios in Faye

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Theatrical release poster

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The cast of Guardians of the Galaxy promoting the film at the 2013 San Diego Comic-Con International. From top to bottom: Pratt, Saldana, Bautista, Pace, Rooker, Gillan, Hounsou, and del Toro.

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Gunn promoting the film at 2013 San Diego Comic-Con International.

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The Gardens by the Bay (top) in Singapore helped inspire the look of the planet Xandar (bottom).

Yondu
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Yondu Udonta, or simply Yondu, is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. A second Yondu was introduced later on a present day Earth-616, Yondu joined Vance Astro and a number of survivors of the Badoon attack on earths solar system in the 31st Century to become known as the Guardians of the Galaxy. As pa

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Yondu on the cover of Guardians of the Galaxy #44 (January 1994). Art by Steve Montano and Kevin West.

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Michael Rooker as Yondu in a character poster for the 2014 film, Guardians of the Galaxy.

Korath the Pursuer
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Korath the Pursuer is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Korath first appeared in Quasar #32, and was created by Mark Gruenwald and it was revealed that he, Korath-Thak, was the lead designer of the project that created the Pursuer, which first appeared in Inhumans #11, although Korath himself did no

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Korath the Pursuer

Kree
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The Kree, briefly known as the Ruul, are a fictional scientifically and technologically advanced militaristic alien race appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. They are native to the planet Hala in the Large Magellanic Cloud, the Kree race resembles humans in appearance except for the fact that a portion of the Kree race have

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Some of the most notable Kree. Art by Scott Kolins.

Ronan the Accuser
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Ronan the Accuser is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He is an officer of the fictional alien race known as the Kree. Though usually portrayed as a supervillain, he is depicted as a more noble and honorable character. Ronan has appeared in forms of media, including several animated television serie

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Ronan the Accuser

Gamora
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Gamora is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Jim Starlin, the character first appeared in Strange Tales #180, Gamora is the adopted daughter of Thanos, and the last of her species. Her powers include superhuman strength and agility and a healing factor. She also is a combatant, being able

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Cover art for Nova (vol 2) #6 Art by Adi Granov

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Gamora (upper right) on the cover of Warlock and the Infinity Watch #8 (September 1992), with Thanos and Moondragon. Art by Tom Raney and Terry Austin.

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Zoe Saldana as Gamora in a character poster for the 2014 film Guardians of the Galaxy.

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Hollow Lacedaemon. Site of the Menelaion, the ancient shrine to Helen and Menelaus constructed in the Bronze Age city that stood on the hill of Therapne on the left bank of the Eurotas River overlooking the future site of Dorian Sparta. Across the valley the successive ridges of Mount Taygetus are in evidence.

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Amazing Fantasy #15 (Aug. 1962). The issue that first introduced the fictional character. It was a gateway to commercial success for the superhero and inspired the launch of The Amazing Spider-Man comic book. Cover art by Jack Kirby (penciller) and Steve Ditko (inker).

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Liberace's early-1980s Christmas costume, worn at the Las Vegas Hilton and Radio City Music Hall. Designed by Michael Travis, with fur design by Anna Nateece, the costume was one of many at the Liberace Museum.

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Liberace with actress Maureen O'Hara during a court hearing in 1957